GRADE  SCHOOL* 
MUSIC  TEACHING 


•     T.  P.  GIDDING  S     • 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


*  y 


GRADE  SCHOOL 
MUSIC  TEACHING 


FOR  SUPERINTENDENTS, 

MUSIC  SUPERVISORS, 
AND  GRADE  TEACHERS 


BY 

T.  P.  GIDDINGS 

SUPERVISOR   OF    MUSIC,    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS,    MINNEAPOLIS 


Caspar  Krueger  Dory  Co. 

772  North  Water  Street 
MILWAUKEE,    WIS. 


Copyright,  1919 

By  T.  P.  GIDDINGS 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 


MANUFACTURED   IN   THE    UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


5  TO  MY  FORMER  SUPERINTENDENT 

S«   '  W.  H.  HATCH, 

§  WHO   SO   PATIENTLY   AND    HELPFULLY 

GUIDED     MY    EARLY    TEACHING,    THIS 
BOOK     IS      RESPECTFULLY     DEDICATED. 


* 

^ 


h 


366958 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    Efficiency 1 

II.    Singing 9 

III.  Rote  Singing 24 

IV.  Rhythm 34 

V.    Reading  Music 51 

VI.  Individual  Singing     ....  72 

VII.  Beginning  Sight  Singing     .     .  97 

VIII.    Ear  Training 121 

IX.    Theory 146 

X.    Voice  Testing 156 

XI.    Voice  Training 181 

XII.     Material 198 

XIII.  Concerts  and  Entertainments  207 

XIV.  Conducting 220 

XV.  Grade  School  Orchestras  and 

Bands 229 

XVI.  Instrumental  Classes     .     .     .  244 

XVII.  Appreciation.   Mrs.  Fryberger  .  247 


INTRODUCTION 

Mr.  Giddings  is  one  of  those  teachers  who 
insist  on  making  sight-singing  a  necessary  part 
of  music  education.  Those  who  cannot  read 
words  are  classed  as  "illiterates,"  and  Mr.  Gid- 
dings makes  the  same  classification  in  music. 

Wherever  music  is  taught,  either  in  private 
or  public  schools,  much  time  is  spent  in  doing 
something  with  the  notation.  Mr.  Giddings 
believes  that  instead  of  surrounding  it  with 
a  veil  of  mystery  and  wasting  time  on  stunts 
this  part  of  the  music  period  should  be  em- 
ployed in  the  most  effective  way  possible  in 
teaching  the  children  to  read,  and  that  all 
vagueness  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  symbols 
of  music  should  be  removed  from  the  minds 
of  the  pupils.  Mr.  Giddings  lets  the  class  drive 
ahead  and  "learn  to  read  by  reading."  He 
cuts  out  all  unnecessary  effort  and  focuses  the 
attention  of  the  pupils  on  the  work  they  are 
expected  to  do,  whether  it  be  singing  by  note, 
learning  a  rote  song,  "finishing  off  a  piece"  or 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

anything  else  that  legitimately  belongs  to  music 
teaching. 

In  doing  this,  Mr.  Giddings  uses  pure  song 
material  as  a  medium,  believing  that  the  best 
way  to  inspire  soulful  singing  is  to  bring  the 
soul  of  the  child  in  contact  with  the  soul  of 
the  composer  without  obtruding  too  much 
soul-less  talk  about  soul. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  soulful  singing  in 
the  Minneapolis  schools,  but  it  is  not  without 
a  foundation  of  good  sense  coupled  with  hard 
work  which  gives  joy  to  all  concerned. 

C.  H.  Congdon. 


GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC 
TEACHING 

CHAPTER  I 

EFFICIENCY 

Efficiency  means  using  the  easiest,  short- 
est, and  most  effectual  way  of  doing  any- 
thing, either  mental  or  physical,  whether  it 
be  calculating  the  transit  of  Venus  or  making 
change  for  a  dollar,  building  a  battleship  or 
washing  a  dish.  It  means  watching  every 
movement  to  see  that  it  counts  and  that  the 
most  work  is  accomplished  with  the  least 
expenditure  of  time  and  energy. 

This  applies  to  all  work,  both  mental  and 
physical,  done  in  the  schoolroom,  and  it  should 
be  the  study  of  every  teacher  to  turn  the  atten- 
tion of  every  pupil  to  the  way  he  does  his 
work  as  well  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  result. 
The  pupil  should  be  developing  good  life 
habits  rather  than  merely  finding  correct  an- 
1 


2    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

swers  to  problems.  A  teacher  who  allows  a 
pupil  to  work  in  awkward,  ineffectual  ways, 
no  matter  how  good  the  result,  is  doing  the 
pupil  a  lasting  injury. 

INITIATIVE 

One  of  the  best  ways  to  secure  efficiency  is 
to  develop  the  initiative  of  the  child  as  early 
as  possible.  Teachers  seldom  do  this.  They 
do  altogether  too  much  directing.  Indeed, 
they  are  so  apt  to  direct  every  move  the  pupil 
makes  that  the  average  class  would  be  wholly 
unable  to  leave  the  building  at  all  unless  some 
teacher  stood  near  and  said  "turn,  stand,  pass" 
at  them.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  lower 
grades.  It  has  its  logical  result  in  the  upper 
grades  and  is  the  principal  reason  for  all  the 
criticism  directed  toward  the  inefficiency  of 
children  after  they  leave  school. 

It  is  not  the  course  of  study  that  is  so 
much  at  fault  (although  that  may  be  open  to 
criticism),  as  it  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
subjects  are  handled.  The  pupil  is  so  seldom 
allowed  to  use  and  develop  his  own  initiative 
that  he  has  none  to  show  when  he  leaves  school 


EFFICIENCY  3 

and  has  constantly  to  be  directed  in  doing  the 
simplest  operations. 

EFFICIENCY   IS    NOW   THE   WATCHWORD 

Of  many  schools  and  it  is  high  time  that 
this  watchword  became  universal.  The  chil- 
dren have  been  permitted  to  come  to  school 
and  to  learn  to  dawdle  instead  of  work.  The 
first  thing  the  schools  should  teach  children 
is  how  to  work.  We  can  make  the  child  do 
anything,  but  that  is  not  the  point.  We  must 
make  him  want  to  work  by  giving  him  a  mo- 
tive and  then  showing  him  the  best  and 
easiest  method  of  accomplishment.  But  as  the 
motive  cannot  always  be  made  plain  at  first, 
we  should  not  weakly  wait  until  the  pupil 
wants  to  do  a  thing  before  requiring  him  to 
do  it.  We  should  see  that  the  children  work 
•faithfully  at  whatever  they  are  doing  and  they 
will  soon  see  that  it  is  worth  while.  The 
following  incident  well  illustrates  this  point: 

Some  years  ago  a  freshman  in  a  high  school 
would  not  have  his  voice  tested.  He  was 
stubborn,  so  I  took  him  to  the  principal,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  gentle  of  men.     He  was 


4    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

also  a  good  psychologist,  and  his  amazing 
exhibition  of  this  faculty  fairly  took  my 
breath  away.  Without  a  word  as  to  why  we 
were  there,  he  leaped  from  his  chair  and 
shouted  at  the  trembling  youth:  "What  are 
you  doing  in  my  office?  Go  straight  back  to 
;  your  class  and  do  whatever  any  teacher  tells 
you  to  do  and  never  show  your  face  in  this 
office  again."  We  turned  and  went.  When 
we  arrived  at  a  secluded  place,  I  stopped  and 
tested  his  voice.  He  offered  no  objection. 
He  returned  to  his  class  and  the  teacher  put 
him  on  the  front  seat.  Later,  he  gravitated 
to  the  back  seat.  His  teacher  soon  reported 
him  to  be  the  most  interested  one  in  the  class 
and  he  became  one  of  the  head  pushers  in  the 
High  School  chorus.  All  he  needed  was  a 
jolt.  When  he  got  that,  he  found  that  music 
was  a  fascinating  subject  and  one  that  well' 
repaid  hard  work. 

Efficiency  is  a  study  that  taxes  the  keenest 
minds  and  conversely  it  is  a  study  that  will 
make  all  minds  keen.  Teachers  should  not 
only  study  the  subject  matter  but  should  also 
study  how  to  teach  it  in  the  shortest  and  best 


EFFICIENCY  5 

way  and  at  the  same  time  teach  the  children 
to  think  out  the  easiest  and  the  best  way  of 
doing  their  work. 

There  is  the  story  of  the  man  who  never 
laid  a  brick  in  his  life,  but  after  watching  an 
old  bricklayer  work,  he  taught  the  old  hand 
how  to  lay  bricks  four  times  as  fast  with  half 
the  labor.  Children  need  the  same  kind  of 
supervision  and  training. 

Some  years  ago  I  had  the  good  fortune  to 
teach  with  a  red-headed  teacher  who  knew  how 
to  teach  efficiency.  She  got  her  work  done 
with  less  fuss  and  feathers  and  less  wasted 
time  than  any  other  teacher  I  ever  saw.  On 
the  blackboard  was  the  program  for  the  day. 
When  the  clock  pointed  to  the  time  indicated 
for  the  beginning  of  a  lesson,  she  simply 
tapped  once  with  her  pencil  to  turn  one  lesson 
off  and  the  next  one  on.  The  pupils  hated  her 
the  first  day  or  two,  but  at  the  end  of  a  week 
they  all  liked  her.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
month  they  adored  her  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  every  pupil  passed.  In  addition  to  their 
book  knowledge,  the  pupils  had  learned  some- 
thing   infinitely    better — they    knew    how    to 


6    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

work.  They  also  knew  the  value  of  time. 
These  pupils  usually  finished  the  work  of 
their  grade  a  couple  of  months  ahead  of  time. 
This  teacher's  method  was  very  simple.  She 
studied  "efficiency,"  but  it  was  before  the  day 
this  word  was  invented.  Her  first  task  with 
a  new  set  of  pupils  was  to  teach  them  to  elimi- 
nate all  false  motions  and  to  waste  no  time.  I 
owe  her  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude,  for  she  taught 
me  a  lesson. 

MUSIC   AN   EFFICIENCY   STUDY 

It  may  strike  many  people,  especially  mu- 
sicians, as  a  great  surprise  to  learn  that  music 
is  the  best  "efficiency  study"  in  the  curriculum. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  music  furnishes 
excellent  mental  training  is  the  fact  that  to 
be  a  good  musician,  or  reader  of  vocal  music, 
a  pupil  must  do  several  things  at  once.  This 
is  plainly  brought  out  in  the  chapter  on  individ- 
ual work  and  in  several  other  places.  The 
great  reason  music  is  valuable  is  the  fact  that 
the  pupil  must  think  in  time.  He  must  train 
his  mind  to  think  rhythmically  and  rapidly. 
In  every  other  study  the  pupil  may  go  as 


EFFICIENCY  7 

rapidly  or  as  slowly  as  he  pleases,  but  in  music 
the  time  is  set  and  his  mind  must  keep  up. 

MUSIC,   THE  GAUGE   OF  A  TEACHER 

Not  only  is  music  a  fine  efficiency  study  for 
the  children,  but  it  is  one  of  the  best  tests  of  a 
teacher's  ability  to  handle  a  school.  If  the 
teacher  is  weak  in  discipline,  or  slow  mentally, 
the  music  lesson  is  the  first  to  show  it.  Every 
weakness  in  the  management  of  the  class  will 
stick  out  like  a  sore  thumb  when  the  music 
supervisor  arrives. 

Efficiency  must,  of  course,  begin  with  the 
teacher.  A  stream  rises  no  higher  than  its 
source  and  if  the  teacher  is  inefficient,  it  is 
hopeless  to  expect  anything  else  from  the 
pupils. 

I  know  a  high  school  teacher  who  is  so  effi- 
cient that  she  teaches  her  six  classes  daily  and 
never  has  a  paper  left  over  to  correct  after 
school.  She  does  this  while  she  is  hearing 
recitations.  I  have  seen  her  listen  to  a  French 
class  with  one  ear,  a  German  class  with  the 
other,  and  correct  papers  at  the  same  time  and 
never  miss  a  mistake.     It  seems   impossible, 


8    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

but  she  says  it  is  simple,  and  it  looks  simple 
when  you  see  her  do  it.  She  says  it  is  only 
using  your  brain  as  it  was  intended  to  be 
used.  One  of  her  secrets  is  that  the  pupil 
and  not  the  teacher  does  the  reciting. 

There  are  "efficiency  hints"  all  through  this 
book,  and  the  music  teacher  who  wishes  to 
make  her  teaching  efficient  should  make  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  way  these  suggestions  may 
be  carried  out. 


CHAPTER  II 

SINGING 

One  of  the  main  essentials  of  school  music 
work  is  the  proper  use  of  the  singing  voice. 
It  is  the  first  thing  the  pupil  must  learn.  If 
he  does  not  sing  with  a  smooth,  pleasant  tone, 
the  so-called  music  he  makes  will  not  only 
sound  unpleasant,  but  he  will  be  unable  to 
correctly  hear  the  tones  he  is  making;  his  ear 
will  not  develop  as  it  should,  nor  will  he  learn 
to  read  music  accurately  or  rapidly. 

Since  it  is  very  important  that  pupils  should 
habitually  use  a  smooth,  pleasant  tone,  let  us 
find  out  what  is  required  to  produce  such  tones. 

While  establishing  smooth  singing,  or  at  any 
other  time,  it  is  perfect  folly  to  give  the  pupils 
any  breathing  exercises.  These  usually  make 
the  trouble  worse,  as  they  call  attention  to 
taking  in  the  breath.  It  is  not  inhaling  that 
the  pupil  needs  to  practice ;  he  can  do  that  well 
enough  already.  He  must  learn  to  send  out 
9 


10    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  breath  slowly  and  evenly.  Teach  him  this 
by  allowing  him  to  practice  singing  long, 
smooth  phrases  in  songs. 

If  nothing  is  said  about  inhalation,  but  much 
attention  is  given  to  singing  long,  smooth 
tones  and  phrases,  the  pupil  will  soon  learn 
to  take  just  enough  breath  and  no  more,  and 
all  his  attention  will  be  centered  on  the  thing 
he  must  learn — the  ability  to  exhale  properly. 
In  order  that  the  pupil  may  know  that  he  is 
doing  this,  let  him  put  the  ends  of  the  fingers 
of  the  left  hand  on  the  middle  of  the  front  of 
the  waist  line,  with  the  thumb  of  the  same  hand 
on  the  fifth  or  sixth  rib  as  far  back  as  it  will 
reach  without  moving  the  fingers  from  their 
position.  Now  let  the  pupil  hold  a  tone  as 
long  as  he  can  easily  with  one  breath  and  no- 
tice what  his  rib  and  waist  muscles  are  doing. 
The  smallest  child  will  observe  that  the  ribs 
and  waist  muscles  are  sinking  in,  steadily. 
The  next  step  is  to  teach  the  pupil  to  sing  a 
song  and  make  these  muscles  sink  in  exactly 
the  same  way  on  each  phrase.  This  must  be 
practiced  until  the  choppy  singing  disappears 
and  the  use  of  the  long,  smooth  tone  becomes 


SINGING 


11 


12    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

a  habit.  The  teacher  will  often  have  to  re- 
sort to  little  helps  to  get  the  child  to  do  this 
habitually.  If  necessary  the  teacher  should 
take  the  young  children,  one  by  one,  and  by 
putting  her  fingers  on  the  child's  ribs  and  her 
thumb  on  the  front  middle  of  the  waist  line, 
exert  a  gentle  pressure  as  he  sings,  thus  teach- 
ing him  how  to  move  the  muscles  steadily. 
As  soon  as  one  child  learns  this,  let  him  teach 
another  in  turn  and  so  on  until  all  have  learned 
it. 

PHRASING 

Phrasing  is  the  habit  of  singing  all  the 
words  of  the  same  phrase  with  one  breath, 
thus  bringing  out  the  meaning  of  the  words 
and  music.  The  method  of  breathing,  already 
described,  makes  perfect  phrasing  possible.  It 
applies  to  language  reading  as  well  as  singing 
and  it  should  be  taught  in  language  reading 
the  same  as  in  singing.  It  will  often  be  found 
that  the  waist  muscles  jerk  at  each  syllable. 
This  must  be  eliminated  and  the  child  taught 
to  move  his  muscles  steadily,  no  matter  how 
many  words  he  sings  to  each  breath. 


SINGING  13 

In  all  dictation  exercises,  make  it  a  rule 
that  the  pupil  must  hold  the  tone  called  for 
until  the  teacher  says  "stop"  or  tells  him  to 
do  something  else.  This  device  can  be  used 
in  many  ways  and  will  be  spoken  of  later. 

Do  not  be  afraid  to  teach  even  the  smallest 
child  how  to  breathe  properly.  The  kinder- 
garten child  can  learn  this  as  well  and  as 
quickly  as  the  high  school  student.  Care 
must  be  taken  that  pupils  do  not  raise  and 
lower  their  chests  in  singing.  Placing  one 
hand  on  the  chest  will  soon  obviate  any  motion 
of  this  kind. 

IMPORTANCE    OF   SMOOTH    SINGING 

The  success  of  school  singing  depends  more 
on  smooth  tones  than  on  anything  else.  Good 
expression  is  impossible  without  it. 

Smooth  tone  is  as  important  in  teaching  the 
reading  of  music  as  it  is  in  teaching  expression, 
as  the  following  incident  will  show,  which  hap- 
pened while  I  was  visiting  schools  in  a  city 
far  from  home.  I  discovered  on  this  journey 
that  many  supervisors  do  not  work.  They 
watch  the  teachers  do  it.     It  struck  me  as  a 


14    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

fine  thing  for  the  supervisor  but  not  very  good 
for  the  grade  teacher  or  the  pupils.  Super- 
visors are  supposed  to  be  experts  in  their  line, 
and  to  see  from  them  a  little  expert  music 
teaching  occasionally  might  be  good  for  both 
grade  teachers  and  pupils. 

The  grade  teacher  blushingly  took  the  class 
as  we  filed  in.  The  supervisor  walked  to  the 
back  of  the  room  and  eyed  her  stonily.  The 
lesson  was  a  song  in  two  parts  and  the  pupils 
(sixth  grade)  were  exceptionally  bright.  In 
the  alto  was  a  passage  that  had  "sol,"  "sharp 
sol,"  and  "la"  in  succession.  Instead  of  go- 
ing up  from  "sol"  to  "sharp  sol"  they  went 
down  and  sang  "sharp  fa."  The  pupils  joy- 
ously yelled  or  barked  the  song  correctly  in  all 
but  this  place.  It  was  enough  to  deafen  one. 
The  teacher  blushed  still  more  as  she  explained 
that  the  pupils  had  made  the  same  mistake  the 
day  before  while  they  were  learning  the  song 
and  she  had  been  unable  to  get  them  to  change 
it.  Then  she  commenced  to  drill  them  on 
their  mistake.  They  sang  "sol,"  "la,"  and 
"sharp  sol"  correctly  when  she  called  for  them 
in  that  order,  but  when  she  called  for  them  in 


SINGING  15 

the  order  in  which  they  occurred  in  the  song, 
they  invariably  went  down  and  sang  "sharp  fa" 
instead  of  "sharp  sol."  She  had  them  yell 
these  notes  over  and  over  for  several  minutes 
and  then  gave  it  up.  The  supervisor  then 
took  the  class  and  drilled  them  in  exactly  the 
same  way  for  several  minutes  more  with  ex- 
actly the  same  result.  Neither  of  them  had 
found  the  trouble.  The  supervisor  then 
asked  me  to  take  the  class.  I  refused  at  first, 
as  I  did  not  wish  to  make  myself  obnoxious, 
but  finally  consented. 

The  first  thing  I  asked  the  pupils  to  do 
was  to  sing  softly  and  to  hold  the  tone 
asked  for  until  I  either  called  for  another 
or  said  "stop."  I  then  called  for  "sol."  They 
gave  one  bark  and  stopped.  I  reminded  them 
that  I  had  not  said  "stop."  They  tried  again 
and  held  the  tone  as  long  and  as  loudly  as  they 
could  with  one  breath.  I  reminded  them 
again  that  I  had  not  said  "stop."  One  of  the 
pupils  remarked  that  his  breath  was  all  gone. 
I  said,  "Can't  you  take  another?"  They  saw 
the  point.  Then  I  explained  to  them  that  not 
only  must  they  sing  until  I  said  "stop"  but 


16    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

they  must  be  careful  to  leave  no  gap  between 
the  tones  called  for,  also  they  should  sing 
softly.  I  then  called  for  "sol,"  "la,"  "sharp 
sol,"  "la."  Then  very  slowly:  "sol,"  "sharp 
sol,"  "la"  and  they  got  it  right.  Then  I  told 
the  altos  to  sing  the  same  thing  from  the  book 
very  slowly  and  smoothly.  They  did  so.  The 
soprano  was  then  added  and  the  song  was  cor- 
rectly sung.  Hardly  a  minute  was  consumed. 
The  trouble  was  that  the  children's  tones  were 
so  disconnected  that  they  could  not  make  the 
necessary  comparison. 

The  habit  of  singing  smoothly  and  with 
connected  tones  should  be  well  established  as 
early  as  the  kindergarten.  It  will  remain  a 
habit  if  the  pupils  are  watched  carefully  all 
through  their  school  life.  In  any  grade  the 
pupils  should  often  test  their  singing  both  by 
ear  and  by  placing  the  hand  as  already  ex- 
plained. This  is  especially  necessary  in  read- 
ing new  music  as  pupils  are  very  prone  to  sing 
jerkily  on  a  new  song. 

If  the  pupil  can  once  get  the  idea  that  the 
rib  and  abdominal  muscles  set  going  an  end- 
less stream  of  tone  that  flows  steadily  and  un- 


SINGING  17 

interruptedly  as  long  as  the  breath  lasts  and 
that  this  stream  of  tone  simply  takes  the 
syllables  and  words  ihat  are  thrown  into  it 
by  the  lips  and  tongue,  the  "bel  Canto"  habit 
will  be  a  reality.  It  is  similar  to  the  stream 
that  flows  smoothly  by  as  one,  sitting  on  the 
bank,  sprinkles  flowers  upon  its  bosom.  The 
stream  does  not  stop  nor  hesitate  but  picks  up 
whatever  is  cast  upon  its  surface  and  carries 
it  along.  The  stream  is  the  tone  and  the  words 
and  syllables  are  the  flowers  and  leaves  the 
singer  throws  upon  it. 

READING  NEW   MUSIC  IS  HARD   WORK 

Reading  music  is  hard  mental  work  and  a 
child  needs  to  be  thoroughly  awake  and  under 
perfect  self  control,  both  mental  and  physical, 
to  be  able  to  do  it  well.  The  deep,  steady 
breathing  necessary  to  smooth,  good  tone  in- 
duces exactly  this  state  of  mind.  When  a 
pupil  is  in  this  state,  he  can  read  music  rapidty 
and  well  because  both  mind  and  body  are 
working  harmoniously.  Unsteady  tones  indi- 
cate unsteady  muscles  and  unsteady  muscles 
indicate  an  unsteady  mind.     One  reacts  upon 


18    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  other.  One  cannot  hope  to  get  good  read- 
ing until  this  calm  mental  and  physical  state  is 
attained  and  the  sign  of  it  is  always  the  smooth, 
steady,  beautiful  tone.  This  cannot  be  too 
thoroughly  emphasized. 

SECOND  GRADE 

Smooth  singing  and  singing  to  the  end  of 
the  phrase  with  one  breath  is  especially  im- 
portant when  beginning  the  reading  of  music 
in  the  second  grade.  I  have  seen  a  class  of 
second  grade  pupils  read  page  after  page  of 
simple  music  at  sight  with  rarely  a  mistake, 
the  sixth  week  of  music  reading.  Other  sec- 
ond grade  classes  floundered  and  were  able  to 
accomplish  but  little  at  the  end  of  six  months. 
The  difference  was  due  entirely  to  the  smooth- 
ness of  tone.  With  smooth  tone  there  is  al- 
ways attention.     Without  it,  there  never  is. 

CAN  CHILDREN  SING 

An  eminent  physician  says  that  a  child  can- 
not sing:  he  only  chirps.  Another  says  that 
a  child  should  not  try  to  sing  when  too  young 
as  his  larynx  is  too  small  and  unsteady.     If 


SINGING  19 

either  of  these  eminent  authorities  had  been 
a  voice  teacher  of  the  right  kind  and  had  taken 
a  few  young  children  and  shown  them  how  to 
use  their  rib  and  abdominal  muscles,  they 
would  have  changed  their  minds  at  once  and 
would  have  known  that  the  smallest  child  can 
learn  to  sing  smoothly.  The  one  who  said 
that  a  child's  larynx  is  too  weak  to  stand  the 
strain  of  quiet  singing  must  have  lived  a  singu- 
larly sheltered  life  if  he  never  heard  a  baby 
squall,  or  a  child  yell.  The  singing  a  child 
does  in  school,  when  the  work  is  properly 
carried  on,  requires  but  a  tithe  of  the  number 
of  pounds  pressure  a  child  puts  on  his  vocal 
chords  in  yelling  or  crying. 

BEL  CANTO 

Bel  Canto  is  a  magic  term  that  singers  often 
use  and  a  quality  they  seldom  show.  It  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  smooth,  quiet  sing- 
ing, brought  to  its  logical  development.  Every 
child  that  goes  to  the  public  schools  should 
learn  it  and  use  it  all  his  life.  Any  kinder- 
garten or  first  grade  child  can  learn  it  and  if 
he  does  not  it  is  the  fault  of  his  teacher.     If 


20    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

this  smooth  use  of  the  voice  becomes  habitual 
in  childhood,  the  good  voices  will  develop  and 
the  world  will  have  more  fine  singers  than  at 
present.  It  is  quite  probable  that  much  of 
Adelina  Patti's  wonderful  success  lay  in  the 
fact  that  she  had  the  proper  early  training.  To 
be  sure,  she  came  from  a  family  of  singers, 
but  it  is  also  true  that  she  was  taught  to  use 
her  voice  correctly  as  soon  as  she  was  able  to 
talk  plainly.  The  school  should  do  the  same 
for  every  child. 

SINGING  AND   MOTION   SONGS 

If  the  habit  of  smooth  singing  is  formed  on 
slow  songs,  the  same  habit  can  be  applied  to 
rapid  ones  and  the  tone  will  still  remain  smooth. 
Smooth  singing  cannot  be  maintained  with 
motion  songs  because  the  breath  cannot  be  ex- 
haled slowly  and  steadily  while  the  singer  is 
making  motions.  He  needs  to  breathe  more 
rapidly  to  sustain  life  when  in  motion  and  as 
this  spoils  the  steady,  slow  breathing,  the 
smooth  singing  tone  disappears.  Teachers 
sometimes  toil  to  establish  a  smooth  tone  and 
a  few  minutes  later  let  the  pupils  dance  and 


SINGING  21 

sing  at  the  same  time  and  wonder  why  the 
singing  does  not  sound  well.  This  trouble  is 
very  widespread  and  should  be  stopped.  I  do 
not  mean  to  stop  the  motion  songs  or  the  folk 
dances  if  they  are  done  in  a  sane  manner. 
They  are  very  interesting  to  children,  but  as 
usually  done  ruin  the  singing  tone.  It  is  easy 
enough  to  supply  the  music  with  the  piano  or 
when  that  is  not  available,  let  half  the  pupils 
sing  and  the  rest  motion.  In  this  way  all  will 
be  happy  and  the  singing  will  not  be  spoiled. 

BEATING  TIME  VOCALLY 

Another  villainous  misuse  of  the  voice  is 
sometimes  perpetrated.  At  the  risk  of  be- 
coming known  as  an  old  he-gossip,  I  will  il- 
lustrate this  by  telling  of  another  visit  I  made 
to  a  distant  city  some  time  ago.  This  super- 
visor recognized  but  one  element  of  vocal  mu- 
sic and  that  was  rhythm.  The  uncanny  part 
of  it  was  that  although  this  man  was  a  fine 
singer  himself,  he  made  his  pupils  beat  time 
with  their  voices,  the  beats  being  induced  by 
abdominal  convulsions.  The  singing  sounded 
like    a    series    of    vocal    explosions.     This 


22    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

teacher  believed  in  ear-training,  so  of 
course  he  wanted  the  children  to  hear  the 
rhythm.  All  heard  it  but  the  "stone  deaf"  and 
they  must  have  felt  the  vibrations. 

This  supervisor  did  not  believe  in  beating 
time  with  the  hand  or  doing  it  in  any  other 
way.  I  have  forgotten  his  reason.  He  con- 
fided to  me  that  the  tone  might  have  been  bet- 
ter. He  had  a  perfect  ear  himself  and  he 
was  worried  because  the  pupils  did  not  sing 
in  tune.  How  could  they  have  been  expected 
to  sing  in  tune  when  they  never  had  sung  in 
their  school  lives  and  had  never  heard  two 
tones  long  enough  or  near  enough  together 
to  compare  them  to  see  if  they  were  in  tune. 

It  is  amazing  how  little  mechanical  sense  a 
supervisor  must  possess  when  he  allows  such 
work  in  his  schools,  since  a  little  reasoning 
would  show  that  good  tone  is  impossible  when 
the  pupils  beat  time  with  their  voices.  We 
are  all  apt  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  one 
of  the  things  of  which  music  is  composed  and 
spoil  the  rest.  Symmetrical  development 
should  be  our  constant  aim. 

Necessary  as  smooth  singing  is  in  the  lower 


SINGING  23 

grades,  where  only  one  part  music  is  sung,  it 
is  even  more  important  when  taking  up  two, 
three,  and  four-part  music.  If  there  is  trouble 
here,  and  there  usually  is,  it  is  due  to  lack  of 
proper  singing  habits  on  the  part  of  the  pupils. 
If  they  can  make  smooth,  long  tones  and  have 
learned  to  listen  well,  they  will  have  very  little 
trouble  learning  part  singing,  if  the  music  is 
suitable. 


CHAPTER  III 

ROTE   SINGING 

When  a  child  first  comes  to  school  he  has 
a  vocabulary  sufficient  to  carry  on  an  intelli- 
gent conversation,  and  he  is  ready  to  begin  at 
once  to  learn  to  read.  But  since  he  knows 
little  or  nothing  about  music,  he  must  first 
learn  to  sing  a  good  many  songs  by  rote  and 
thus  acquire  what  might  be  called  a  musical 
vocabulary,  and  also  have  the  opportunity  of 
listening  to  good  music,  both  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, before  he  is  ready  to  begin  to  learn 
to  read  music. 

With  the  child's  music  sense  thoroughly 
awakened  (the  music  sense  includes  rhythm), 
he  can  enjoy  hearing  good  music  and  will 
readily  learn  to  express  himself  in  song. 
The  child's  first  experience  in  singing  should 
be  with  simple  songs  and  when  he  begins  to 
sing  by  notation,  easy  song  material  should 
be  the  basis  of  his  work. 
24 


ROTE  SINGING  25 

Marching,  dancing,  and  other  physical  ex- 
pressions of  rhythm  may  be  used  to  advantage 
by  the  children,  but  they  should  never  be  a 
part  of  the  singing  lesson  unless  such  exer- 
cises are  performed  by  a  part  of  the  class  that 
is  not  singing. 

The  young  child  should  be  taught  the  cor- 
rect use  of  the  singing  voice  and  it  will  be 
found  that  it  is  much  easier  to  teach  this  at 
the  age  of  six  than  it  is  at  the  age  of  sixteen. 
Any  grade  teacher  can  train  the  child  voice 
properly  if  she  will  follow  the  plan  explained 
in  the  chapter  on  singing. 

Until  the  singing  habit  is  well  established 
teach  only  rote  songs  that  are  short  and  simple, 
slow  and  sustained.  There  should  be  some 
wide  intervals  and  many  holds.  The  wide 
intervals  will  be  heard  more  readily  than  the 
small  ones  and  the  holds  will  help  teach  the 
children  the  singing  tone  as  well  as  to  sing 
in  tune.  The  following  song  meets  these  re- 
quirements and  is  an  excellent  one  to  begin 
with. 


26    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 


CALLING  MARY 


WILL  F  AMI  ART 


U- 


r  rnrrr 


&■ 


Ma  -  ry!  Hark,  I   am    call-ing  you  I 


&' 


T—+ 


Ma    -    ry!    Where   can   she       be? 

From  Coagdon  Musio  Primer  Number  0  no 

The  rhythm  may  be  changed  without  appre- 
ciable harm  and  the  jumps  of  an  octave  are  ex- 
cellent for  ear  training. 


PRESENTING  A  ROTE  SONG 

The  teacher  should  sing  a  new  song  through 
once  to  the  class.  Sing  it  very  smoothly  and 
enunciate  the  words  very  distinctly.  Do  not 
talk  about  it,  let  the  song  speak  for  itself.  If 
the  song  is  suitable  and  you  have  sung  it 
properly,  the  pupils  will  know  all  about  it. 
After  you  have  sung  the  song  through  once 
sing  phrase  by  phrase  and  have  them  repeat 
each  phrase.  The  children  should  learn  to 
do  this  without  being  told  each  time.     Self 


ROTE  SINGING  27 

direction  should  be  learned  early  by  the  pupils. 

In  singing  phrases  of  a  rote  song,  require  the 
pupils  to  repeat  them  correctly  after  hearing 
them  once.  The  habit  of  attention  is  the  first 
thing  a  pupil  should  acquire  in  school  and  the 
attention  a  teacher  requires  while  teaching  rote 
songs  is  a  sure  indication  of  her  teaching 
ability. 

If  the  pupils  do  not  repeat  the  phrase  cor- 
rectly after  hearing  it  once,  look  for  the  cause. 
Usually  it  is  the  fault  of  the  teacher. 

There  are  a  number  of  reasons  why  the 
phrases  are  not  repeated  correctly  after  once 
hearing.  The  phrase  may  have  been  too  long. 
You  may  not  have  been  clear  in  your  singing 
or  articulation.  You  may  have  sung  too 
rapidly.  The  pupils  may  not  have  been  pay- 
ing attention. 

Teach  the  first  song  phrase  by  phrase — 
until  the  class  can  sing  it  as  a  whole.  The 
teacher  should  never  sing  with  her  pupils  and 
the  piano  should  not  be  played  until  they  have 
learned  the  song.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  sing 
with  the  children  while  they  are  learning  to 
memorize. 


28    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

WHY  TEACH   SINGING? 

As  soon  as  the  class  as  a  whole  can  sing 
this  first  song  correctly,  let  individuals  try  it. 
When  you  have  found  a  few  who  can  get 
through  this  song,  take  them  one  by  one  and 
teach  them  how  to  sing,  as  explained  in  the 
chapter  on  singing.  I  am  well  aware  that 
many  will  rise  up  and  yell  that  this  plan  will 
make  the  child  self-conscious  and  will  so 
ruffle  the  pinfeathers  of  his  spirit  that  his  soul 
will  be  unable  to  soar  to  the  realms  of  song. 
Turn  a  deaf  ear  to  all  such.  Teach  the  child 
how  to  sing  and  keep  him  at  it  until  it  be- 
comes a  habit.  Then  he  will  be  able  to  express 
his  emotions  in  song  because  he  will  have  a 
singing  machine  that  will  respond  to  his  emo- 
tions. Until  he  has  such  a  machine  at  his  com- 
mand he  will  be  unable  to  express  anything. 

POSITION    IN    SINGING 

Let  the  pupils  stand  a  part  of  the  time  when 
they  are  singing.  When  sitting,  the  pupils 
should  sit  erect  with  elbows  far  apart  resting 
on  the  desk  and  the  hands  lightly  folded  in 
front.     This  brings  them  into  a  position  that 


ROTE  SINGING  29 

favors  the  correct  use  of  the  breathing  muscles. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  some  of  the  girls  raise 
the  chest  when  taking  breath.  (  See  chapter  on 
singing.) 

When  the  proper  use  of  the  voice  is  estab- 
lished on  the  first  song,  a  number  of  other  songs 
of  like  character  should  be  taught.  Great  care 
should  be  taken  that  the  phrasing  is  perfect 
and  the  tone  smooth  the  first  time  the  pupils 
sing  the  song. 

When  the  smooth  singing  habit  is  well  estab- 
lished on  the  slow  songs  the  teacher  may  in- 
crease the  speed  of  the  songs  and  select  more 
rapid  ones.  Great  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
pupils  continue  to  use  the  smooth  tone  no  mat- 
ter how  rapidly  they  sing. 

ARTICULATION 

Nothing  has  been  said  so  far  about  articula- 
tion and  very  likely  it  will  be  found  that  the 
words  are  already  spoken  plainly.  Good  ar- 
ticulation can  easily  be  obtained  if  the  tone  is 
smooth  and  steady.  If  the  words  are  not 
plain,  simply  tell  the  pupils  to  move  their  lips 
so  that  the  teacher  can  see  what  they  are  say- 


30    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ing.  Do  not  tell  the  children,  however,  to  say 
the  words  so  that  you  can  hear  them,  since 
that  will  bring  out  a  stronger  tone.  You  are 
working  for  distinctness,  which  means  more 
marked  and  rapid  movements  of  the  articulat- 
ing muscles  and  not  a  louder  tone.  Be  very 
careful  also  when  pupils  are  trying  to  articu- 
late well  that  they  do  not  commence  to  jerk 
their  rib  and  waist  muscles,  as  this  will  destroy 
their  singing  tone  and  will  also  destroy  the 
effect  of  good  articulation.  No  matter  how 
well  the  words  may  be  articulated,  they  will 
not  be  clearly  heard  unless  they  have  a  smooth, 
pure  tone  to  travel  on.  If  teachers  would 
apply  this  principle  to  the  reading  of  language 
and  especially  to  phonic  drills  the  reading  of 
the  pupils  would  sound  infinitely  better  and 
they  would  learn  to  read  in  a  very  much  shorter 
time. 

MONOTONES 

More  will  be  said  about  monotones  and  out 
of  tunes  in  another  place,  but  it  will  be  found 
that  as  soon  as  all  the  children  have  learned  to 
carry  a  smooth  tone,  most  of  these  unfortunate 


ROTE  SINGING  31 

pupils  will  be  reclaimed.  This  means  that  the 
slow,  smooth  tone  they  have  used  has  educated 
their  ears  and  singing  muscles  so  that  most  of 
them  sing  in  tune. 

COMPASS  OF  SONGS 

This  is  a  sore  subject,  for  few  composers 
seem  to  know  that  children  of  the  kindergarten 
or  first  grade  should  never  sing  below  "E" 
(first  line)  or  "F."  They  may  safely  sing  to 
the  "G"  above  the  staff. 

A  child  voice  has  two  registers — the  chest 
and  head.  They  might  also  be  called  the  sing- 
ing and  howling  registers.  Between  these  two 
registers  there  is  a  movable  break  and  if  the 
child  is  permitted  to  sing  loudly  he  will  push 
his  chest  register  up  as  far  as  the  song  goes. 
If  he  is  taught  to  sing  softly  the  song,  com- 
mencing on  "E"  or  "F"  (first  line  or  first 
space)  will  be  sung  in  the  head  register  and 
there  will  be  no  trouble.  With  the  head  tone 
properly  used,  the  children  can  sing  safely 
from  "E"   (first  line)  to  "G"   (space  above). 

All  teachers  should  read  that  excellent  book 
by  F.  E.  Howard,  "The  Child  Voice  in  Song" 


32    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

(published  by  Novello).  Adopt  the  principles 
he  so  well  explains,  but  do  not  use  the  exer- 
cises he  advocates.     They  are  not  needed. 

The  number  of  songs  taught  in  the  first 
grade  varies  greatly.  Teachers  sometimes  say 
that  it  depends  upon  the  children  they  happen 
to  have,  but  it  depends  almost  entirely  upon 
the  habits  the  teacher  has  allowed  them  to  form. 
If  the  pupils  learned  attention  and  smooth  tone 
the  first  thing  upon  entering  school,  they  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  memorizing  at  least  fifty 
songs  the  first  year.  Of  kindergartens  I  can- 
not speak  with  much  authority,  as  I  have  had 
little  experience  with  them,  but  the  same  prin- 
ciple should  hold  good  there.  After  two 
months  in  school  the  pupils  should  be  able  to 
learn  a  short  song  after  hearing  it  once. 

Teachers  should  not  be  discouraged  by  the 
fact  that  a  class  may  sing  a  song  perfectly  at 
the  first  lesson  and  then  partially  forget  it  the 
next  day.  This  habit  will  soon  pass.  Sev- 
eral new  songs  should  be  started  at  the  same 
time.  Do  not  attempt  to  finish  one  song  per- 
fectly   before    beginning    another;    this    will 


ROTE  SINGING  33 

make  the  pupils  slow.  They  can  learn  sev- 
eral at  a  time  as  rapidly  as  one. 

The  singing  teacher  and  the  kindergarten 
and  first  grade  teachers  often  clash  over  mo- 
tion songs  and  rhythm  games.  This  is 
brought  out  in  the  chapter  on  singing.  In 
order  to  sing  well  the  child  must  exhale 
smoothly  and  very  slowly.  He  can  do  this 
if  he  is  standing  or  sitting  still.  He  will  be 
able  to  take  breath  enough  to  sustain  life  and 
sing,  if  he  has  nothing  else  to  do.  Let  him 
make  a  few  motions  and  his  heart  beats  faster, 
his  breath  must  come  more  quickly  to  aerate 
his  blood  and  the  singing  is  impossible. 

But  the  teachers  say  the  pupils  like  motion 
songs.  Of  course  they  do.  They  like  to  play 
leap  frog  but  they  should  not  sing  while  they 
are  doing  it.  If  we  are  to  have  motion  songs, 
let  half  of  the  class  do  the  motions  and  the 
other  half  sing. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RHYTHM 

Rhythm  is  a  most  important  part  of  music 
and  is  the  part  that  is  most  often  misunder- 
stood and  mistaught.  It  is  the  second  element 
to  be  considered  in  teaching  the  reading  of 
vocal  music. 

Music  is  made  up  of  time  and  tune.  Time  is 
the  framework  upon  which  the  tune  hangs. 

All  teachers  wish  their  pupils  to  develop 
rapid,  accurate  thinking  habits.  Rhythm  will 
do  this  if  correctly  taught.  Music  is  the  only 
study  in  which  rapid,  rhythmic  thinking  is  re- 
quired. When  a  class  or  a  pupil  sings  a  pas- 
sage, be  sure  that  the  time  goes  on  steadily,  no 
matter  how  many  notes  are  miscalled. 

Many  supervisors  and  teachers  do  not  agree 
upon  this.  They  are  apt  to  think  the  tone  is 
the  important  thing.  The  frame  of  a  build- 
ing is  always  firmly  in  place  before  the  orna- 
mentation is  applied.  It  is  the  same  with 
34 


RHYTHM  35 

music.  The  time  is  the  frame  and  the  tones 
are  the  ornamentation.  No  matter  how  lovely 
the  coloring,  the  painted  picture  will  be  a 
failure  if  the  drawing  is  faulty. 

A  listener  does  not  easily  detect  mistakes  in 
tone.  A  mistake  in  time  is  noted  by  the  dullest 
ear.  A  missing  shingle  is  seen  by  few,  but  if 
the  roof  is  caved  in  or  the  frame  of  a  house 
is  out  of  plumb,  even  a  casual  observer  will  no- 
tice it.  The  musical  frame  (time)  must  be 
built  before  you  can  lay  on  the  tones. 

The  pupil  sings  many  slow,  smooth  songs  in 
the  kindergarten  and  first  grade  to  awaken  his 
ear  and  establish  the  singing  tone.  Many  of 
the  later  songs  in  these  grades  should  be  faster 
and  of  more  pronounced  rhythm.  Children 
should  hear  many  faster  and  more  intricate 
rhythms  than  the  ones  they  are  able  to  sing. 
Let  these  be  given  on  the  piano  or  other  in- 
struments. 

Teachers  often  allow  pupils  to  wave  their 
hands,  dance  and  prance,  and  go  through  many 
elaborate  motions  as  music  is  played.  Such 
rhythm  exercises  are  fine  as  plays,  dances,  and 
other  physical  exercises,  but  if  one  thinks  that 


36    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

these  performances  are  going  to  help  the  pupils 
read  rhythm  later,  they  will  be  disappointed. 

Do  not  have  the  children  clap  their  hands 
while  they  are  singing,  hoping  it  will  help 
them  later  in  trying  to  read  rhythm.  It  will 
not  do  it.  Do  not  teach  children  to  beat  time 
while  they  are  singing  rote  songs,  thinking  it 
will  help  them  later  in  reading.  It  will  not. 
In  the  first  grade,  do  no  time  work  in  the  sing- 
ing lesson,  except  to  have  the  pupils  sing  their 
rote  songs  with  a  smooth,  pleasant  tone  in 
perfect  time  and  tune. 

SECOND  GRADE 

When  pupils  begin  note  reading  in  the  second 
grade,  they  should  point  to  the  notes  with  the 
extended  first  finger  of  the  right  hand.  The 
wrist  should  lie  flat  on  the  desk  and  the  hand 
should  move  down  and  up  from  the  wrist 
joint,  the  first  finger  pointing  once  to  each  one 
beat  note  and  twice  to  each  two  beat  note,  etc. 
The  three  other  fingers  should  be  closed  and 
the  extended  thumb  pressed  against  the  middle 
joint  of  the  extended  first  finger  and  against 
the  side  of  the  closed  second  finger.     This  will 


RHYTHM 


37 


compel  the  pupil  to  move  the  hand  from  the 
wrist  joint.  If  he  moves  but  the  extended 
first  finger,  the  rhythm  will  probably  be  uneven. 
If  his  whole  forearm  moves,  he  will  be  unable 
to  place  the  finger  under  the  notes  with  ac- 
curacy. 


Beating  time  should  be  very  accurately  done 
and  the  habit  should  be  established  once  and 
for  all.  With  the  wrist  lying  on  the  desk, 
the  hand  should  take  the  two  positions  alter- 


38    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 


nately  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  pic- 
tures, the  finger  making  an  arc  of  not  more 
than  three  inches  at  each  beat.     The  forearm 


should  lie  easily  on  the  desk  or  desk  and  book. 
The  hand  should  move  down  and  up  with 
a  quick,  snappy  movement  and  the  pauses  at 
the  bottom  and  top  should  be  well  marked. 
The  movements  should  be  exactly  equal  in  time. 
Many  of  the  pupils  will  put  the  hand  down  and 
let  it  bounce  up  instantly  like  the  motion  of  a 


RHYTHM  39 

chicken  picking  up  a  grain  of  corn.  This 
should  not  be  allowed. 

The  steady  motion  should  become  a  habit 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  teacher  should 
watch  carefully  to  see  that  it  never  flags,  no 
matter  if  the  music  the  pupil  is  reading  is  easy 
or  hard. 

The  teacher  should  bear  in  mind  that  the 
pupil  is  not  learning  any  particular  piece  but 
is  establishing  a  habit  and  she  should  see  that 
every  hand  moves  in  time,  no  matter  how  many 
mistakes  the  pupil  makes  in  miscalling  notes 
or  singing  wrong  tones.  This  is  a  very  vital 
matter,  and  the  teacher  who  allows  a  pupil  to 
read  new  music  while  beating  time  in  a  vague 
way  or  not  at  all,  and  who  allows  the  time  to 
be  jerky  and  uneven,  as  the  pupil  stops  to 
think  out  the  notes,  will  never  get  good  re- 
sults. Her  pupils  will  never  read  music  well. 
Worst  of  all,  the  pupils  are  developing  shift- 
less mental  habits.  If  pupils  stop  or  vary 
the  time  to  get  the  notes  right,  they  lose  the 
best  and  most  valuable  part  of  the  music  les- 
son. We  are  trying  to  teach  the  child  to  do 
steady,  rapid  thinking.     We  are  trying  to  train 


40    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

his  mind  to  work  when  he  wants  it  to.  Music 
is  the  only  subject  where  thinking  in  carefully 
regulated  rhythm  is  required.  To  lose  this 
training  is  not  only  to  lose  the  best  part  of  the 
music  lesson,  but  the  music  itself  will  be  poor. 
I  cannot  repeat  this  too  often  nor  emphasize 
this  point  too  strongly. 

Does  it  ever  occur  to  the  teacher  that  when 
she  uses  the  oft-heard  expression,  "Stop  and 
think,"  she  is  telling  the  child  to  do  a  very 
foolish  thing?  The  child  should  learn  to  skip 
right  along  and  think  as  he  goes.  Two  sisters, 
one  good  and  the  other  practical,  left  their 
front  door  just  as  the  bell  rang  for  school. 

"Oh!  There  is  the  school  bell,"  said  the 
good  one.  "We  better  kneel  right  down  and 
pray  that  we  won't  be  late." 

"Huh !"  said  the  practical  one.  "We  better 
skip  right  along  and  pray  as  we  go." 

Moral:  Make  your  pupils  "skip  along"  in 
time,  thinking  notes  and  tones  as  they  go,  and 
they  will  arrive  at  the  happy  land  of  music 
reading  with  better  mental  habits  and  be  there 
far  sooner  than  if  they  stopped  to  "think." 


RHYTHM  41 

VALUE  OF  BEATING  TIME 

Beating  time,  as  outlined  above,  does  a  num- 
ber of  things  for  the  pupil.  It  is  also  valuable 
to  the  teacher.  As  the  child  beats  time,  the 
teacher  will  have  a  good  idea  of  what  he  is 
thinking  as  she  watches  his  pointing  finger. 
If  the  finger  has  a  vague  way  of  moving  down 
and  up,  the  teacher  may  be  perfectly  sure  that 
the  child  has  a  very  hazy  idea  of  the  time,  and 
beating  time  should  be  drilled  upon  until  the 
child's  hand  goes  down  and  up  from  the 
wrist  at  every  beat,  and  the  movement  is  a 
distinct  and  snappy  one.  The  finger  should 
point  directly  under  the  notes  or  rests.  In 
this  way  the  teacher  may  be  sure  that  the  child 
knows  what  he  is  doing  and  is  not  guessing  or 
following  the  other  pupils  or  remembering  the 
tune. 

I  once  visited  the  music  work  in  a  large  city 
where  the  pupils  had  never  pointed  to  the  notes 
and  had  done  very  little  individual  work. 
They  beat  time  down,  left,  right,  up,  in  the 
good  old-fashioned  way  and  their  reading  and 
rhythm  were  both  very  poor.     The  supervisor 


42    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

asked  me  what  was  the  matter  and  I  suggested 
that  we  find  out  what  the  children  really  knew 
about  their  music  by  asking  them  to  point  to 
the  notes  as  they  read  some  new  work.  It  was 
a  horrible  exhibition  of  what  they  didn't  know. 
Even  in  the  upper  grades,  few  of  the  pupils 
knew  what  they  were  doing.  This  supervisor 
contended  that  pupils  could  not  be  expected  to 
point  correctly.  I  contended  that  they  would 
point  all  right  as  soon  as  they  really  knew 
what  notes  they  were  singing,  but  not  until 
then.  Later  this  supervisor  wrote  me  that  his 
pupils  had  learned  to  point  correctly,  to  the 
great  improvement  of  their  rhythm  and  music 
reading.  If  these  pupils  had  been  required  to 
point  to  the  notes  in  all  the  new  music  they 
sang,  the  teacher  would  have  noticed  their  lack 
of  knowledge,  even  if  they  did  no  individual 
singing,  and  would  have  corrected  the  weak- 
ness. 

READING   WORDS 

When  pupils  are  singing  the  words  of  a  new 
song  for  the  first  time,  pointing  is  still  more 
important,  as  the  teacher  can  then  tell  whether 


RHYTHM  43 

the  pupils  are  thinking  the  syllable  names  of 
the  notes  as  they  sing  the  words  or  are  merely 
trying  to  remember  the  tune.  In  putting 
words  to  the  tune,  the  pupil  must  say  the  syl- 
lable names  mentally  as  he  sings  the  words. 
If  this  is  not  done,  he  merely  guesses,  remem- 
bers the  tune,  or  copies  the  other  pupils.  It  is 
not  reading  music  when  he  does  any  of  these 
things.  The  position  of  the  hand  should  be 
changed  when  the  pupil  sings  words.  The 
outside  edge  of  the  right  hand  should  be  laid 
on  the  book  above  the  music,  the  extended  first 
finger  pointed  toward  the  body,  and  the  rhythm 
of  the  song  given  by  rolling  the  hand.  This 
will  give  a  down  and  up  motion  to  the  ex- 
tended first  finger,  showing  the  rhythm  of  the 
song  and  also  showing  unfailingly  whether  the 
pupil  is  thinking  the  syllable  name  of  the  note 
or  not. 

The  words  of  a  song  are  usually  printed  be- 
low the  notes  so  the  pupil  should  point  above 
the  notes.  It  is  the  note  we  want  him  to  see 
before  he  sees  the  word,  so  that  he  will  have  to 
think  the  tone  he  is  to  sing  before  singing  the 
word.     The  way  his  finger  points  is  a  sure 


44    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

index  to  his  mental  habit.  If  the  end  of  the 
finger  falls  a  quarter  or  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
exactly  above  the  note,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that 
the  pupil  has  the  note  in  mind  and  he  will  be 
apt  to  sing  the  tone  correctly.  If  the  finger 
falls  on  or  below  the  note  and  covers  it  up,  the 
teacher  may  be  very  sure  that  the  pupil  is  not 
thinking  what  that  note  is.  He  is  either  trying 
to  remember  the  tune,  guess  at  the  note,  or  fol- 
low his  neighbor  by  ear.  Teachers  often  fail 
in  these  little  points  that  sound  so  small  and 
unimportant.  They  fail  to  notice  whether  the 
pupil's  finger  falls  where  it  should  or  is  an 
eighth  of  an  inch  out  of  the  way.  It  sounds 
foolish  to  say  that  the  variation  of  an  eighth 
of  an  inch  in  the  falling  of  the  end  of  a  child's 
finger  makes  any  difference  in  his  ability  to 
read  music,  but  the  fact  remains  that  if  the 
finger  does  fall  an  eighth  of  an  inch  out  of 
the  way,  the  child  will  not  learn  to  read  music 
quickly  or  accurately.  To  the  attentive 
teacher,  this  eighth  of  an  inch  shows  the 
pupil's  mental  habit  in  music  reading  as  plainly 
as  though  she  lifted  the  cover  off  his  brain 
and  looked  in.     Perfection  in  anything  is  made 


RHYTHM  45 

up  of  many  small  exactnesses.  The  maker  of 
any  machine  has  to  be  very  exact  in  small  de- 
tails. The  makers  of  mental  machines  should 
be  much  more  exact,  but,  alas,  how  many  of 
us  are  ? 

THIRD  GRADE 

The  pupils  in  the  third  grade  should  point, 
the  same  as  in  the  second  grade.  Be  sure  that 
the  hand  moves  steadily,  with  a  snappy  motion, 
down  and  up,  pauses  at  the  top  and  bottom  of 
the  beats  of  equal  length  and  that  these  two 
motions  are  of  exactly  equal  speed.  If  this 
habit  is  perfectly  established,  the  divided  beat 
will  cause  little  trouble. 

For  years  I  have  tried  every  new  kind  of 
time  beating  I  could  hear  of  or  devise,  but 
after  trying  them  all,  I  still  continue  to  use  the 
one  invented  by  F.  E.  Howard.  It  is  the 
one  outlined  above  and  one  of  the  best  phases 
is  its  application  to  the  divided  beat. 

DIVIDED   BEAT 

The  divided  beat  should  not  come  too  early; 
the  last  half  of  the  third  grade  is  early  enough. 


46    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

The  first  half  of  the  fourth  grade  is  better. 
The  teacher  should  still  bear  in  mind  that  she 
is  not  trying  to  teach  rhythm.  The  pupil 
knows  rhythm  already.  He  is  trying  to  learn 
to  read  rhythm  and  that  is  quite  another  mat- 
ter. Pupils  will  have  little  trouble  in  reading 
the  more  rapid  rhythms  if  they  can  sing  the 
notes  fast  enough  at  sight. 

To  return  to  our  text  of  teaching  the  divided 
beat,  select  some  simple  song  that  contains  ex- 
amples of  two  notes  to  a  beat  and  have  the 
pupils  learn  it  by  ear  as  a  pattern  song.  Let 
them  point  to  the  notes  as  you  sing  the  song 
for  them.  They  will  soon  see  that  two  half- 
beat  notes  go  to  one  beat.  Now  is  the  time  to 
show  them  that  when  they  point  to  a  one-beat 
note,  they  make  two  motions  of  the  hand,  a 
down  and  an  up.  These  motions  have  been 
going  on  before  their  eyes  for  a  year  or  two, 
but  they  have  not  seen  them. 

When  the  fact  is  well  established  that  the 
finger  makes  both  a  down  and  an  up  motion 
to  each  beat  while  pointing  to  the  notes,  then 
show  the  pupils  that  the  hand  goes  down  while 
they  sing  the  first  note  to  the  beat  and  comes 


RHYTHM  47 

up  while  they  sing  the  second  note  to  the  beat. 
If  they  see  this  plainly,  the  pupils  will  have  no 
trouble  with  divided  beats.  When  they  make 
mistakes  in  the  rhythm,  they  should  try  to 
rectify  the  mistakes  by  singing  the  song  again. 
If  this  fails,  the  offending  measure  or  meas- 
ures may  be  placed  on  the  blackboard  and 
practiced  until  the  pupils  can  do  them  cor- 
rectly. Many  teachers  pick  out  the  hard 
measures  and  practice  them  beforehand,  but 
this  is  poor  teaching.  Pupils  should  learn  to 
do  by  doing  and  not  by  getting  ready  to  do. 

It  will  be  found  at  this  stage  that  most  of 
the  pupils  look  only  at  the  heads  of  the  notes 
and  do  not  see  the  stems  at  all.  In  introduc- 
ing the  divided  beat,  it  is  necessary,  of  course, 
to  explain  the  significance  of  the  stems  and 
their  relative  time  value. 

A  steady  and  rapid  tempo  should  be  main- 
tained while  the  pupils  are  reading  new  music, 
otherwise  the  rhythm  will  be  abnormal.  The 
pointing  finger  should  touch  the  page  for  each 
beat  as  before.  When  there  are  two  notes  to 
the  beat,  it  should  touch  under  and  between  the 
two. 


48    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

THE  BEAT  AND  A  HALF  NOTE 

When  the  beat  and  a  half  note  (a  dotted 
quarter  followed  by  an  eighth)  appears,  it  will 
only  be  necessary  to  show  the  pupils  that  the 
hand  goes  down  and  up  while  they  sing  the 
quarter,  down  on  the  dot  and  up  on  the  eighth 
note.  In  singing  the  dotted  eighth  followed 
by  a  sixteenth  to  one  beat,  the  hand  should  go 
down  on  the  eighth  and  up  on  the  dot  as  they 
would  beat  a  quarter  note  except  that  the  six- 
teenth note  is  "thrown  in"  before  the  hand  goes 
down  again.  When  the  smaller  divisions  of 
time  occur,  like  the  triplet  and  four  notes  to 
the  beat,  the  pupils  should  be  so  well  advanced 
in  reading  rhythm  that  these  groups  will  give 
no  trouble. 

A  new  rhythmic  problem  should  be  taught 
by  ear  and  eye  at  the  same  time.  That  is, 
when  the  pupils  take  up  a  new  rhythm  for  the 
first  time  the  teacher  should  sing  it  for  them 
and  at  the  same  time  show  them  how  to  beat 
the  time  while  they  are  looking  at  the  notes. 
This  carries  out  the  idea  of  teaching  new  prob- 
lems by  the  pattern  method. 


RHYTHM  49 

MEASURE 

The  measure  need  not  be  taught  further  than 
to  let  the  pupil  know  that  the  space  between 
the  two  bars  represents  the  measure  and  the 
finger  points  as  many  times  in  each  space  as 
the  measure  calls  for.  Before  this,  he  has 
thought  of  the  individual  notes  and  he  has  kept 
his  time  by  giving  the  time  of  each  note.  It 
will  now  be  well  to  have  the  pupil  learn  meas- 
ures a  little  more  plainly  because  in  the  more 
rapid  reading  now  encountered,  they  will  need 
this  check  to  know  where  they  are. 

Accent 

Accent  takes  care  of  itself  if  the  voices  are 
smooth  and  steady.  Accent  should  never  be 
mentioned  as  such.  When  the  tone  is  smooth 
and  the  music  sung  in  perfect  time,  the  accent 
will  appear.  When  accent  is  taught  sepa- 
rately, it  is  apt  to  spoil  the  singing. 

When  the  song  begins  on  the  second  or  up 
half  of  the  beat,  the  pupils  should  be  drilled 
to  begin  in  different  ways.  First,  they  may 
put  the  finger  on  the  book  under  the  note  and 


50    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

bring  it  up  when  the  teacher  says  "sing." 
Second,  they  may  beat  time  before  singing  and 
the  teacher  may  say  "sing"  as  the  hand  goes 
down  and  the  pupils  may  sing  as  the  hand 
comes  up.  This  makes  for  mental  alertness 
on  the  part  of  both  teacher  and  pupii.  It  is 
well  to  drill  on  both  ways.  The  teacher  should 
never  beat  time  when  the  class  is  sight-singing. 
They  must  keep  their  time  unaided. 


CHAPTER  V 


READING     MUSIC 


Why  do  we  learn  to  read  music?  For  the 
same  reason  we  learn  to  read  books;  namely, 
to  know  the  content.  Every  one  likes  music 
more  or  less,  though  in  this  age  of  mechani- 
cally reproduced  music,  it  is  said  that  the  mind 
is  becoming  lazy  and  music  reading  is  on  the 
wane.  Nevertheless,  there  is  in  every  one  a 
desire  to  do  things  for  himself  that  no  mechan- 
ical device  can  ever  overcome. 

REASON  FOR  READING  MUSIC 

President  Eliot  said  that  there  should  be 
more  of  the  practical  subjects  taught  like  music 
and  drawing,  and  less  grammar  and  arithmetic 
and  that  music  rightly  taught  is  the  best  "mind 
trainer"  on  the  whole  list.  He  might  have 
added  that  music  is  used  more  in  after  life 
than  anything  else  the  pupil  learns  in  school 
except  reading  and  writing. 
51 


52    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

We  hear  a  great  deal  nowadays  (it  is  right 
that  we  should)  about  music  appreciation.  In 
some  places  the  reading  of  music  has  been 
either  eliminated  or  put  off  until  late  in  school 
life  and  the  time  is  devoted  to  listening  to 
good  music.  In  other  schools  a  little  reading 
of  music  is  done  in  the  lower  grades  but  most 
of  the  time  is  taken  up  with  rote  songs  because 
the  supervisor  is  afraid  that  if  the  pupils  do 
too  much  reading  their  musical  natures  will 
not  expand  properly.  A  glance  at  the  sister 
study,  language  reading,  will  show  to  any 
thinking  person  that  this  is  all  "piffle."  We 
teach  the  child  to  read  as  soon  as  he  enters 
school  and  we  make  him  read  as  early  and  as 
well  as  possible,  so  that  he  may  know  and  ap- 
preciate literature.  A  person  who  cannot  read 
has  a  very  limited  knowledge  of  literature,  and 
we  take  great  pains  to  make  books  for  even 
the  blind  to  read.  The  same  principles  apply 
to  the  reading  of  music. 

ELEMENTS  OF  READING  MUSIC 

The  smooth,  connected  tone,  explained  in 
the  chapter  on  singing,  and  referred  to  in  many 


READING  MUSIC  53 

other  places,  must  be  used  with  every  effort 
the  child  makes  to  sing  by  note  and  should 
always  be  the  first  consideration  when  he  is 
reading  a  new  piece  of  music. 

As  rhythm  is  the  framework  of  melody,  so 
it  is  the  first  element  of  music  the  child  should 
attempt  to  interpret  from  the  printed  page. 
Rhythm  should  never  be  sacrificed  for  the  cor- 
rect reading  of  the  notes. 

The  smooth  singing  tone,  the  rhythm  and 
the  production  of  the  correct  pitch  of  the 
tones  represented  by  the  notes  must  all  be  estab- 
lished and  maintained  while  applying  words 
to  new  music. 

All  this  is  meaningless,  however,  without 
expression,  which  is  the  crowning  feature  of 
good  singing. 

LOGICAL  SEQUENCE 

The  foregoing  considerations  make  clear  the 
logical  sequence  of  the  processes  employed  in 
reading  music,  which  are  as  follows:  The 
pupil  should  first  learn  to  sing  with  perfectly 
smooth,  connected  tones;  second,  he  should 
read  the  rhythm  of  the  piece  he  is  attempting 


54    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

to  sing  by  note;  third,  he  should  read  the 
notes  accurately  and  sing  the  tones  in  correct 
pitch;  fourth,  he  should  add  the  words;  fifth, 
he  should  interpret  the  meaning  of  the  piece 
and  sing  with  expression. 

This  logical  sequence  may  be  expressed 
briefly  as  follows :  tone,  time,  notes,  words, 
expression. 

When  the  pupil  reads  a  new  piece  of  music 
perfectly,  he  carries  on  all  five  of  these  proc- 
esses simultaneously.  If  he  does  not  read 
music  well,  the  teacher  may  be  sure  that  some 
of  these  processes  are  either  being  overlooked 
or  developed  in  the  wrong  order.  If  the  pupil 
can  do  only  one  of  them  at  a  time,  he  must 
make  a  smooth  tone,  no  matter  what  he  makes 
it  on.  If  he  can  do  only  two  of  them  at  a 
time,  he  must  make  a  smooth  tone  and  read  the 
time  correctly.  If  he  can  do  three,  it  must 
be  smooth  tone,  correct  time,  and  correct  pitch. 
Then  come  words  and  expression,  as  already 
explained. 

The  question  may  arise  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader,  How  can  a  pupil  keep  on  singing  when 
he     cannot     interpret     the     symbols     rapidly 


READING  MUSIC  55 

enough  to  produce  a  correct  melody?  This 
may  be  answered  by  calling  attention  to  the 
teaching  of  writing  by  the  arm  movement.  Of 
course  the  pupil  learning  to  write  in  this  way 
cannot  form  the  letters  accurately  at  first  but 
he  is  learning  a  freedom  and  speed  of  motion 
that  will  enable  him  to  write  rapidly  and  with 
a  degree  of  accuracy  and  legibility  that  those 
afflicted  with  the  cramped  finger  habit  cannot 
attain.  So  in  singing  new  music,  the  first 
thing  to  be  established  is  smooth,  connected 
tones.  The  pupil  may  aim  at  accuracy,  but 
this  smoothness  and  continuity  of  tone  should 
not  be  interrupted. 

ALWAYS    MAKE    MUSIC 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  is  vocal  music 
we  are  teaching  and  in  order  to  be  interesting 
to  the  child  all  his  singing  must  be  musical. 
This  should  be  true  of  new  music  as  well  as 
the  music  he  already  knows.  Even  though  he 
makes  many  mistakes  in  the  reading  of  new 
music,  it  will  have  a  pleasant  sound  if  his  voice 
flows  on  in  a  smooth,  connected  singing  tone. 

Montessori  and  common  sense  tell  us  that 


56    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  time  to  teach  a  child  is  when  he  is  ready  to 
learn.  If  he  is  not  ready,  it  is  very  difficult 
to  make  him  learn  anything.  The  average 
child  seems  to  possess  a  very  effective,  im- 
pervious, and  instantaneous  curtain  that  he  is 
able  to  drop  between  himself  and  his  teacher 
whenever  she  tries  to  teach  him  anything  that 
is  unnecessary.  That  is  why  the  teacher 
should  study  the  child  as  well  as  the  lesson 
to  find  out  what  will  make  him  open  this  cur- 
tain as  well  as  what  makes  him  close  it.  She 
must  try  to  discover  a  way  to  make  him  want  to 
keep  it  open  all  the  time. 

SONG  VS.    SCALE 

Years  ago,  in  teaching  children  to  read,  they 
were  required  to  learn  the  alphabet  first. 
This  took  a  long  time  and  was  very  weari- 
some. By  and  by  some  one  had  sense  enough 
to  teach  the  child  to  read  first  and  let  him 
learn  his  letters  as  he  needed  them.  The  great 
pedagogical  law  that  "children  learn  to  do  by 
doing"  was  then  applied  to  reading.  The 
child  doesn't  care  about  the  letters,  he  only 
wants  to  know  what  the  book  says.     In  find- 


READING  MUSIC  57 

ing  out  what  the  book  says,  he  learns  his  letters. 

To  read  music  the  singer  must  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  intervals  of  the  diatonic  scale.  We 
used  to  teach  these  intervals  as  the  first  ap- 
proach to  music  reading.  This  was  an  exact 
parallel  to  the  old  alphabet  method  of  teach- 
ing language  reading.  Finally,  some  bright 
mind  thought  of  applying  to  music  reading 
the  same  principle  that  had  been  discovered  for 
language  reading  and  a  great  change  appeared 
in  the  speed  and  interest  with  which  the  chil- 
dren learned  to  read  music.  This  called  for 
better  song  material,  and  to-day  the  best  songs 
in  existence,  adaptable  for  school  singing,  are 
available.  In  many  cities  and  towns  the  an- 
cient scale  method  still  survives,  and  the  pupils 
are  required  to  toil  through  pages  of  dreary 
exercises,  but  in  most  schools  excellent  song 
material  is  in  use. 

The  pupil  now  learns  to  read  music  by  read- 
ing it  and  he  becomes  familiar  with  the  nota- 
tion by  using  it.  This  makes  the  work  far 
more  interesting  and  every  lesson  is  a  real 
music  lesson.  The  product  of  the  child's  laboi 
is  always  available,  for  many  of  the  songs  he 


58    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

learns  to  read  are  memorized  and  added  to  his 
repertoire.  The  manual  training  teachers 
worked  out  the  same  thing  years  ago  when  they 
quit  teaching  the  use  of  tools  first  and  let  the 
pupil  learn  to  use  tools  by  making  something 
useful  to  take  home  and  keep. 

USE  OF  SYLLABLES 

As  there  are  tones  and  intervals  to  be  learned 
and  notes  to  be  read,  the  question  naturally 
arises,  What  shall  we  call  them?  Everything 
the  child  uses  has  a  name  so  each  tone  of  the 
scale  must  have  a  name.  The  Italian  syllable 
names  for  the  tones  of  the  scale  are  now  used 
almost  universally.  When  properly  used, 
these  syllable  names  are  a  great  help  and  when 
improperly  used  they  are  a  great  hindrance. 
This  fact  gave  rise  to  a  bitter  discussion  that 
has  now  nearly  died  out,  as  to  whether  the 
syllable  names  should  be  used  or  not.  This 
discussion  usually  arose  when  some  instru- 
mentalist strayed  into  the  field  of  vocal  music 
and  tried  to  teach  sight  singing.  Never  hav- 
ing used  syllable  names  himself  (he  learned  to 
read  music  on  some  instrument  and  so  did  not 


READING  MUSIC  59 

need  them),  he  said  they  were  of  no  use.  He 
forgot  that  when  the  voice  is  the  only  instru- 
ment that  is  being  used,  the  teacher  and  the 
pupils  alike  need  a  set  of  names  in  order  to 
designate  the  tones.  Teachers  of  sight  singing 
generally  are  accepting  the  syllable  names  as 
almost  indispensable. 

Some  teachers  advocate  the  use  of  a  common 
syllable,  others  say  that  the  pupils  must  learn 
the  intervals,  so  they  begin  by  teaching  the 
minor  second,  the  major  second,  etc.  Some 
say  teach  chords  and  others  say  let  there  be  a 
fixed  "do"  and  sing  everything  from  that. 
How  anyone  has  the  patient  cruelty  to  make 
children  swallow  all  these  things  I  cannot 
imagine.  Why  do  they  not  look  at  history  and 
see  who  has  taught  people  to  read  vocal  music 
most  readily  with  the  least  effort?  It  was  the 
tonic  sol-fa-ists.  Apply  the  good  points  of 
the  tonic  sol-fa  system  to  the  staff  notation  and 
you  have  what  experience  has  proved  to  be 
the  easiest  and  best  way. 

SINGING   WORDS 

As  the  pupil  acquires  skill  in  "singing  by 


60    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

note"  it  becomes  unnecessary  for  him  to  give 
audible  expression  to  the  syllable  names; 
nevertheless,  if  he  thinks  them  subconsciously 
and  at  all  times,  he  is  more  certain  of  the 
tones.  Singing  the  words  to  new  music  adds 
another  mental  process  which  the  pupils  must 
carry  on  without  dropping  the  ones  already 
established.  If  any  of  the  processes  already 
learned  are  discarded  to  give  place  to  new  ones 
added,  the  work  will  have  to  be  done  over  again 
or  the  pupils  will  lapse  into  carelessness  and 
eventually  go  back  to  singing  by  ear.  Many 
teachers  allow  the  pupils  to  sing  the  syllables 
over  and  over  until  the  tune  is  memorized  and 
then  apply  the  words  to  the  tune.  Pupils  will 
never  learn  to  apply  words  to  music  at  sight 
in  this  way.  It  is  the  failure  of  the  teacher 
to  recognize  this  that  gives  rise  to  all  doubt 
as  to  the  usefulness  of  syllables. 

To  test  whether  the  pupil  is  doing  this  work, 
look  at  his  pointing  finger  as  he  is  singing 
words  to  new  music  (see  page  42).  Another 
test  is  to  say  "note"  suddenly.  "Note"  is  the 
signal  for  holding  the  tone  with  the  syllable 
name  instead  of  the  word.     If  the  syllable  does 


READING  MUSIC  61 

not  come  instantly,  it  means  that  the  singer  is 
guessing. 

Carrying  on  several  mental  processes  at  the 
same  time  is  difficult  and  the  pupil  is  prone  to 
get  around  it  by  recalling  the  tune  and  guess- 
ing or  listening  to  the  other  pupils. 

Sight-reading  by  syllables  should  be  done  in 
all  the  grades.  The  practice  of  singing  old 
songs  by  syllable  is  entirely  useless  except  at 
the  beginning  of  sight  singing  (see  page  102). 

One  of  the  most  pitiable  exhibitions  of  what 
remembering  the  tune  will  do  to  musical  chil- 
dren occurred  during  one  of  my  visits  to  a 
distant  city.  In  one  of  the  seventh  grades 
the  pupils  sang  a  number  of  three-part  songs 
by  syllable.  Their  voices  were  pleasant  and 
the  parts  were  well  balanced  and  clear.  After 
some  time  I  asked  the  teacher  to  allow  the 
pupils  to  sing  the  words  to  the  last  song  and 
received  the  following  amazing  reply:  "We 
have  only  worked  on  this  song  two  weeks  and 
I  fear  they  are  not  ready  for  the  words  yet. 
However,  I  will  let  them  try."  They  did  try 
and  made  a  very  poor  showing.  I  then  asked 
that  the  pupils  sing  something  they  had  never 


62    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

seen,  words  first.  The  teacher  was  "game" 
though  she  told  me  she  had  never  heard  of 
such  a  thing.  She  picked  out  a  new  song  in 
three  parts  and  threw  the  pupils  at  it  several 
times,  but  they  could  net  get  beyond  the  first 
chord.  The  trouble  was  they  had  always  mem- 
orized their  tunes  before  putting  the  words  to 
them. 

The  next  day  we  went  back  to  the  same 
school  and  the  supervisor  was  there.  The 
principal  called  the  pupils  from  several  of  the 
upper  grade  rooms  to  the  assembly  hall  and 
had  them  sing  for  an  hour.  During  that  hour 
not  a  word  was  sung.  All  they  did  was  to 
sing  old  songs  by  syllable.  This,  of  course, 
only  made  the  pupils  more  dependent  on  the 
syllables.  In  either  the  song  or  scale  method, 
the  use  of  syllables  must  be  tempered  with 
wisdom. 

TWO-PART    SINGING 

When  two-part  work  is  taken  up,  new  prob- 
lems are  introduced  and  it  is  often  discourag- 
ing to  find  that  some  of  the  best  pupils  are 
unable  to  sing  the  lower  part.     But  if  the  in- 


READING  MUSIC  63 

dividual  work  has  been  well  done  and  the 
pupils  are  ready  readers,  this  trouble  will  soon 
disappear. 

When  a  pupil  begins  reading  two-part  music, 
he  is  confronted  with  a  number  of  new  prob- 
lems and  for  this  reason  the  music  must  be 
very  simple  at  first.  Each  pupil  must  sing  his 
own  part  correctly  and  at  the  same  time  read 
and  listen  to  another  part  wholly  different. 
There  is  not  enough  simple  material  in  any  of 
the  books  now  on  the  market  to  allow  the  pupils 
to  do  this  successfully  without  much  loss  of 
time.  Beginning  two-part  work  with  rounds 
and  canons  is  of  doubtful  value,  as  in  both 
these  forms  of  composition  the  tune  is  the  same 
for  all  parts  and  pupils  are  still  "following  the 
tune"  when  singing  them.  Rounds  are  very 
pleasing,  however,  and  it  is  well  to  use  them 
but  as  an  aid  to  two-part  singing  they  are  apt 
to  be  a  disappointment. 

Equally  futile  are  the  exercises  often  given 
with  the  two  pointers  from  the  blackboard  or 
from  the  modulator.  They  look  well  and  the 
teacher  presents  the  impressive  picture  of  do- 
ing something,  but  the  time  could  be  spent  to 


64    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

better  advantage  in  practicing  two-part  music, 
using  songs  that  are  worth  adding  to  the  pupils' 
repertoire. 

Do  not  introduce  two-part  work  too  early. 
The  last  half  of  the  fourth  grade  is  early 
enough  and  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  would 
be  even  better.  Most  of  the  books  and  courses 
of  study  call  for  it  earlier,  but  it  is  not  prac- 
tical to  force  this  work  in  the  lower  grades. 
In  beginning  two-part  work  select  a  good, 
simple  song  with  slow  rhythm  and  easy  skips; 
make  two  divisions  of  the  class  and  assign  the 
parts  accordingly.  When  the  school  has  sung 
the  song  correctly  by  syllable,  let  the  pupils 
take  it  by  twos  as  outlined  in  the  chapter  on 
individual  work.  All  who  are  able  to  sing  the 
alto  correctly  in  a  duet  should  be  seated  in  the 
back  seats. 

It  will  be  found  that  many  of  the  pupils  can 
sing  the  alto  correctly  if  they  are  helped  in  get- 
ting started.  Do  not  put  such  pupils  in  the 
rear  seats.  Only  those  who  are  quick  and 
musical  enough  to  take  the  tone  as  outlined  in 
the  chapter  on  individual  work  should  sit  in 


READING  MUSIC  65 

the  back  seats.     In  front  of  them  put  the  ones 
that  can  carry  the  alto  with  help. 

After  the  school  has  been  thoroughly  tested 
on  several  songs  and  seated  as  explained,  they 
are  ready  to  advance.  A  great  deal  of  duet 
singing  should  be  practiced.  Maintain  the 
perfect  singing  tone  at  all  times.  This  is 
especially  essential  in  part  singing.  The  tones 
must  be  long  enough  and  smooth  enough  to 
make  a  clear  impression  and  insure  good 
intonation. 

TUNING 

When  singing  two  or  more  parts  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  blow  the  pitch  pipe  and  let  the 
school  start  as  in  one-part  singing.  The 
added  element  of  tuning  must  be  recognized. 
When  the  teacher  blows  the  pitch  pipe  let  that 
be  a  signal  for  the  school  to  find  the  chord 
and  hold  it  until  the  parts  are  in  tune.  Then 
she  may  tap  twice  or  say  "sing"  as  a  signcl 
to  go  ahead. 

When  pupils  are  singing  new  music  in  con- 
cert, it  is  a  good  plan  for  the  teacher  to  tap 


66    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

once  when  the  harmony  sounds  "muddy." 
This  tap  means  to  stop  beating  time  and 
point  to  the  note  on  which  the  tap  oc- 
curred; hold  the  tone  steadily  and  look 
at  the  teacher  for  a  criticism.  The  teacher 
may  ask,  "Is  the  chord  wrong?  Is  the  tone 
unsteady?  Do  you  hear  all  the  parts?"  If 
one  part  is  wrong  the  teacher  may  say,  "Listen 
and  see  which  part  is  wrong."  If  this  does 
not  bring  the  offending  part  into  line,  she  may 
signal  the  other  parts  to  stop  (palm  toward  the 
pupils).  This  will  leave  the  offending  part 
still  sounding  and  the  pupils  can  then  more 
easily  hear  and  rectify  their  mistakes.  When 
this  part  is  right,  the  teacher  may  then  beckon 
the  other  parts  to  come  in,  one  at  a  time,  until 
all  the  parts  are  sounding  again.  Then  she 
may  tap  twice  and  send  them  on  their  way. 
The  pointing  finger  still  under  the  note  will 
enable  each  pupil  to  find  the  place  instantly. 
This  exercise,  properly  used,  will  do  wonders 
for  the  pupils  in  helping  them  to  hear  and  see 
all  the  parts  of  the  composition  at  the  same 
time.  It  will  also  do  wonders  for  the  teacher, 
who  may  be  vague  herself.     Whenever  the 


READING  MUSIC  67 

teacher  is  not  sure  that  the  music  is  sung  cor- 
rectly, she  should  use  this  device.  It  will  make 
her  a  better  musician.  This  plan  should  be 
followed  until  both  the  teacher  and  pupils  are 
able  to  hear  and  read  all  the  parts  at  once. 
Then  it  may  be  laid  aside.  Over  use  is  the 
danger  of  all  devices.  This  exercise  will  not 
only  improve  the  reading  greatly  but  it  will  im- 
prove the  music  because  every  chord  can  be 
worked  out  until  the  intonation  is  perfect. 
Orchestras,  glee  clubs,  and  choirs  should  use 
this  device  a  great  deal  for  the  improvement 
of  their  work. 

PART  READING 

Many  supervisors  and  teachers  resort  to  the 
foolish  practice  of  allowing  a  chorus  to  learn 
one  part  at  a  time  before  the  parts  are  sung 
together.  A  little  reflection  will  show  the 
futility  of  this  plan.  What  is  the  pupil  trying 
to  learn?  He  is  trying  to  learn  to  sing  against 
another  part  or  parts.  He  is  trying  to  learn 
to  read  several  parts  at  once.  Remembering 
music  is  not  reading  it.  When  one  part  at  a 
time  is  learned,  it  then  becomes  a  memory  proc- 


68    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ess.  The  parts  must  all  be  learned  together, 
allowing  the  pupils  to  pause  occasionally,  so 
that  all  the  parts  can  be  heard  clearly.  It  will 
take  longer  to  teach  the  first  few  pieces  in  this 
way,  but  it  will  give  the  pupils  power  to  read, 
and  in  the  long  run  more  music  can  be  learned 
and  learned  better. 

MATERIAL 

These  methods  and  devices  will  enable 
pupils  to  read  music  readily  and  accurately  if 
there  is  plenty  of  material  for  them  to  read. 
Here  is  the  rub.  In  many  places  only  one  mu- 
sic series  is  adopted  and  four  or  five  books 
furnish  all  the  material  the  pupils  use  from 
the  first  grade  to  the  high  school.  Children 
cannot  learn  to  read  music  without  an  abun- 
dance of  good,  well  graded  material.  The 
Israelites  left  Egypt  because  they  had  no  mate- 
rial with  which  to  work.  Modern  civilization 
should  not  require  the  unhappy  music  super- 
visor to  "make  bricks  without  straw."  In 
language  reading  they  deserted  the  one  book 
idea  years  ago. 

It  is  bad  to  hammer  on  one  piece  until  it  is 


READING  MUSIC  69 

learned  by  rote.  Have  several  in  the  works  at 
once.  It  would  be  ideal,  of  course,  if  the 
pupils  could  read  each  song  once  and  get  out 
of  it  all  there  is  in  it — music,  words,  and  ex- 
pression— and  then  memorize  the  best  songs.: 
This  is  for  the  future,  but  it  will  be  attained 
some  time.  The  music  work  should  be  done 
artistically  and  the  songs  should  be  sung  with 
expression,  but  the  pupils  should  learn  to  inter- 
pret the  expression  and  the  artistry  of  the  songs 
as  a  part  of  sight  singing. 

Another  plan  that  helps  the  reading  of  music 
is  to  encourage  the  pupils  to  take  their  music 
books  home  and  learn  to  play  their  songs  on  the 
piano.  Many  a  child  has  taught  himself  to 
play  the  piano  without  lessons  by  taking  his 
school  music  books  home.  With  a  little  en- 
couragement many  will  do  this,  to  the  infinite 
betterment  of  the  music  in  the  schools.  The 
piano  teacher  will  be  benefited  by  this  practice, 
for  after  playing  the  tunes  the  school  music 
books  afford,  the  pupil  will  want  to  take  music 
that  is  more  distinctively  for  the  piano  and 
the  cause  of  music  generally  will  be  greatly 
strengthened.    The  piano  teacher  will  reap  the 


70    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

harvest  of  the  added  pupils  and  become  a 
booster  for  the  school  music  instead  of,  as  is 
often  the  case,  an  enemy  of  the  music  super- 
visor. 

TIME  TOO  SHORT 

The  fifteen  minutes  a  day  usually  doled  out 
for  music  by  a  superintendent  who  has  never 
been  able  to  see  the  value  of  music  in  the 
schools,  does  not  give  time  enough  to  make  the 
music  work  what  it  should  be,  and  every  influ- 
ence possible  should  be  brought  to  bear  on  the 
pupils  to  induce  them  to  do  work  out  of  school. 

Pupils  leaving  the  eighth  grade  should  be 
able  to  read  at  sight  four-part  work  like  the 
simpler  choruses  from  the  Messiah.  Nothing 
less  should  be  accepted  as  reading  ability  from 
eighth  grade  pupils.  If  there  were  half  an 
hour  daily,  the  material  ample,  and  the  teach- 
ing what  it  should  be,  this  could  be  accom- 
plished. 

Not  only  would  the  music  be  excellent  if  the 
pupils  could  do  this,  but  the  voices  would  be 
ready  for  the  voice  teacher.  The  pupils'  minds 
would  be  far  quicker  than  at  present.     They 


READING  MUSIC  71 

would  have  initiative  and  self-possession,  for 
if  a  pupil  can  stand  before  others  and  read 
new  music  well,  he  will  never  have  the  self- 
conscious  period  we  hear  so  much  about  and 
which  comes  only  because  we  have  not  given 
him  power. 


CHAPTER  VI 

INDIVIDUAL  SINGING 

We  are  trying  to  do  a  number  of  things  in 
school  music  work  and  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant is  that  of  teaching  the  pupils  to  read 
music.  The  musical  effect  of  the  singing  of 
young  children  is  usually  best  when  they 
are  singing  in  concert  and  for  this  reason  much 
concert  singing  should  be  done.  But  few 
pupils  learn  to  read  music  while  singing  in  con- 
cert. That  can  only  be  learned  individually. 
After  pupils  can  read  music  individually,  they 
may  practice  reading  in  concert  with  profit,  but 
even  then  the  slow  ones  have  little  chance  to 
improve.  The  swift  pupil  will  sing  the  tone 
before  the  slow  one  has  had  time  to  think  it 
out  and  the  tone  of  the  good  reader  will  go  in 
the  poor  one's  ear  and  out  his  mouth  and  never 
touch  his  brain  at  all. 

Years  ago  pupils  clasped  hands,  swayed  back 
iind  forth,  and  recited  their  lessons  in  unison. 
•      72 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  73 

This  plan  allowed  a  few  leaders  to  do  all  the 
work  and  kept  the  slow  ones  from  learning 
anything.  This  variety  of  poor  teaching  has 
been  largely  laid  aside,  but  it  still  survives  in 
school  music  and  its  survival  explains  the  poor 
results  so  often  apparent  in  our  public  schools. 

The  necessity  for  individual  work  in  music 
has  long  been  recognized  and  many  schemes 
have  been  tried  to  meet  this  demand. 

When  pupils  do  too  much  individual  work, 
they  will  not  sing  well  together  and  when  they 
do  too  little,  they  will  not  read  music  well.  In 
this,  as  in  all  other  things,  there  is  the  happy 
medium  to  be  sought. 

DIFFICULTIES    OF    INDIVIDUAL    WORK 

It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  get  children  to 
sing  alone.  This  depends,  however,  on  the 
way  individual  singing  is  presented.  Children 
realize  the  importance  of  doing  things  for 
themselves  and  they  will  gladly  sing  alone  if 
individual  work  is  put  before  them  in  the  right 
way  and  they  are  given  time  and  practice 
enough  to  do  it  well,  for  there  is  nothing  in 
the  whole  range  of  school  work  that  children 


74    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

like  better  than  to  display  musical  ability. 
An  old  teacher  once  said,  "It  is  an  easy 
thing  to  make  a  pupil  stand  up  and  do  a  thing. 
It  is  far  harder  to  make  him  stand  up  and 
want  to  do  it."  This  last  is  true  discipline 
and  true  discipline  is  what  we  are  concerned 
with  in  all  our  school  work,  especially  in  music 

MOTIVE 

So  let  us  look  for  the  motive  which  will 
make  the  pupil  stand  up  and  want  to  sing 
alone.  Then  let  us  find  the  easiest  and  quick- 
est way  for  him  to  do  it.  Of  course,  there  is 
the  love  of  music  and  the  love  of  singing  and 
all  that,  but  let  us  look  further  and  see  if 
there  are  not  other  things  that  also  appeal  to 
the  child. 

In  all  his  work  the  child  instinctively  wants 
to  do  something  worth  while.  He  wants  a 
definite  result  to  come  and  to  come  soon  and 
this  result  must  be  something  that  will  appeal 
to  him.  In  the  history  of  manual  training  we 
have  a  fine  parallel.  Many  of  us  can  remem- 
ber the  time  when  all  the  wood  that  was  issued 
to  the  manual  training  pupil  was  a  piece  of 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  75 

inch  board  about  a  foot  square  and  he  was  ex- 
pected to  learn  to  use  tools  by  reducing  this 
board  to  sawdust  in  various  ways.  To  him 
the  result  of  all  this  hard  work  was  nothing 
but  sawdust.  No  wonder  he  had  to  be 
scourged  to  his  class.  Now  he  makes  some- 
thing useful  that  he  can  take  home  and  keep 
and  there  is  a  motive  that  brings  him  gladly  to 
his  work. 

To  the  child,  one  of  the  strongest  incentives 
to  work  in  the  music  class  is  to  have  the  music 
he  makes  heard  by  some  one.  That  is  one 
thing  music  is  for.  In  looking  back  over  my 
own  childhood,  I  will  have  to  admit  that  the 
desire  to  "show  off"  was  one  of  the  motives 
that  drove  me  to  the  piano  (and  the  rest  of 
the  family  to  the  neighbors).  Now  this  may 
not  be  the  highest  motive  to  appeal  to,  but  as 
long  as  it  is  there,  we  may  as  well  use  it  to 
get  the  pupils  started. 

METHODS 

A  number  of  methods  of  doing  individual 
work  have  been  devised.  One  which  has  at- 
tained great  popularity  consists  of  small  slips 


76    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

of  paper  each  containing  a  few  measures  of 
music,  which  are  distributed  to  the  pupils,  each 
taking  one  and  singing  it  when  his  turn  comes. 
This  plan  is  futile  for  several  reasons.  It 
takes  precious  time  to  distribute  the  slips  and 
each  pupil  sees  only  the  few  measures  he  holds 
in  his  hand.  When  a  pupil  has  sung  his  in- 
dividual slip,  he  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  listen, 
which  is  a  waste  of  time.  Teachers  who  use 
this  method  forget  that  pupils  learn  a  great 
deal  about  reading  music  by  listening  to  others 
while  they  themselves  are  following  the  music 
the  other  pupil  is  singing.  It  is  the  same  thing 
that  makes  class  reading  in  language  so  effec- 
tive. Pupils  profit  by  the  mistakes  of  others. 
Only  the  regular  book  should  be  used  for  in- 
dividual singing  so  that  all  the  pupils  can  work 
all  the  time,  whether  they  are  singing  or  not. 

It  is  very  important  that  individual  singing, 
as  well  as  all  other  school  work,  should  be 
carried  on  without  loss  of  time.  Schoolroom 
efficiency  is  a  study  in  itself  and  deserves  the 
most  serious  and  painstaking  consideration. 

A  great  deal  of  individual  singing  should  be 
done  in  the  first  grade  and  in  the  kindergarten. 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  77 

The  following  way  is  good  because  it  does  the 
work  without  loss  of  time  and  develops  not 
only  musical  ability,  but  individual  initiative. 

The  children  should  be  seated  according  to 
their  ability,  the  most  tuneful  in  the  back  seats 
of  each  row.     This  is  very  important. 

At  a  signal,  let  two  pupils  in  the  two  rear 
seats  of  the  same  row  stand.  The  first  one 
should  sing  the  song  or  phrase  through  once. 
The  second  should  take  it  up  instantly  when 
the  first  has  finished.  When  the  second  one 
has  sung  he  sits,  but  the  first  remains  standing, 
as  the  first  one  is  to  be  the  teacher  for  the  poor 
pupils  in  his  row.  While  the  second  child  is 
singing,  the  third  rises  and  is  ready  to  sing  as 
soon  as  the  second  one  finishes,  and  so  on  down 
the  row.  The  pattern  singer  in  the  back  seat 
sings  with  those  who  need  help.  He  should 
always  stand  behind  the  pupil  he  is  helping, 
otherwise  he  himself  may  be  disturbed  by  the 
bad  ton*s  of  the  poor  singer. 

All  individual  work,  even  in  the  kinder- 
garten, should  start  at  some  signal  and  pro- 
ceed without  help  or  prompting  from  the 
teacher.    The  best  signal  is  simply  to  give  the 


78    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

name  of  the  song  and  blow  the  first  tone  of  the 
song  on  the  pitch  pipe. 

INITIATIVE 

The  primary  teacher  usually  fails  in  develop- 
ing initiative.  She  is  apt  to  feel  that  the  chil- 
dren are  only  babies  and  cannot  be  allowed  to 
do  anything.  She  will  tell  each  child  when  to 
stand  and  when  to  sit,  when  to  breathe  and 
when  to  eat,  and  when  to  do  everything,  so 
that  when  a  child  reaches  the  second  grade,  in- 
stead of  having  a  single  working  habit,  he  is 
a  well-drilled  baby,  who  insists  on  having 
everything  done  for  him.  Montessori,  for  one, 
is  showing  us  the  error  of  our  ways. 

The  individual  singing  in  the  kindergarten 
and  first  grade  should  go  swiftly  down  one  row 
after  another  without  prompting  from  the 
teacher.  The  teacher  should  remember  that 
it  is  not  the  particular  song  the  pupils  are  sing- 
ing but  it  is  the  habit  of  work  they  are  form- 
ing that  is  of  greatest  importance. 

SECOND    GRADE 

In  the  second  grade  the  pupils  should  not 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  79 

stand  when  they  do  individual  singing  from 
the  books,  as  their  hands  are  too  small  to  hold 
the  book  in  one  hand  and  beat  time  with  the 
other. 

In  the  second  grade,  as  well  as  the  first,  the 
pupil  in  the  rear  seat  should  be  the  teacher  for 
his  row.  It  is  the  ready  reader  with  the  good 
ear  who  should  go  to  the  rear  seat,  rather  than 
the  ready  reader  with  the  poor  ear. 

When  a  pupil  sings  a  passage  correctly,  the 
school  should  approve  it  by  singing  it  over 
after  him  without  being  told.  Insist  that  the 
pupil  sings  the  whole  phrase  with  a  perfectly 
smooth  tone  and  with  one  breath  before  it  is 
called  correct.  If  a  pupil  stumbles  the  pupil 
teacher,  who  follows  down  the  row,  takes  up 
the  passage  in  strict  time  and  helps  the  stum- 
bling pupil  through.  The  stumbling  pupil 
should  immediately  repeat  the  passage  once 
without  help  or  prompting.  The  school  should 
not  call  it  "correct"  unless  the  pupil  gets  it 
the  first  time  without  help.  It  is  surprising 
how  discriminating  these  young  pupils  soon 
become  as  they  develop  the  habit  of  observing 
critically  as  another  sings. 


80    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

When  all  the  phrases  have  been  sung  cor- 
rectly, individually,  and  have  been  verified  by 
the  school,  the  school  should  sing  the  whole 
piece  by  syllable.  Next  the  words  should  be 
sung,  a  phrase  at  a  time  and  verified  in  the 
same  way.  The  pupils  should  then  sing  the 
song  through  with  the  words;  then,  without 
prompting,  hold  their  books  in  the  singing  posi- 
tion and  sing  it  again.  Next  close  the  books, 
with  thumb  in  place  so  as  to  be  able  to  open 
the  book  instantly,  and  sing  the  song  from 
memory.  With  proper  expression  developed, 
another  song  is  added  to  the  repertoire  of  the 
school. 

Individual  work,  as  outlined  above,  is  valu- 
able to  the  child  in  many  ways.  First,  the 
teacher  folds  her  hands  and  tongue  and  lets 
him  work.  The  pupil  is  assured  of  a  chance 
to  practice  without  fear  of  ridicule.  He  will 
be  helped  when  he  shows  his  need  for  it  and 
not  before.  His  perfect  work  will  be  rewarded 
by  a  better  place  in  the  room  and  the  approval 
of  his  classmates.  His  mistakes  will  be  cor- 
rected without  embarrassment.  Feeling  free 
in  every  way,  his  mental  energy  can  all  be  ap- 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  81 

plied  to  the  work  in  hand,  and  the  mistakes 
will  become  fewer  and  farther  between. 

The  teacher  is  often  so  fussy  that  the  pupil 
is  afraid  to  make  mistakes  and  this  feeling 
makes  him  all  the  more  prone  to  make  them. 
This  is  the  nub  of  the  whole  matter.  Individ- 
ual singing  is  not  something  the  pupil  feels  that 
he  is  obliged  to  do,  but  it  is  an  opportunity  to 
practice  what  appeals  to  him  as  something 
worth  while.  There  is  nothing  in  school  work 
a  child  would  rather  do  than  to  sing  correctly 
before  his  classmates. 

THIRD  GRADE 

Individual  work  should  be  done  in  the  third 
and  succeeding  grades  as  outlined  above,  with 
the  addition  that  the  pupils  will  stand  while 
singing. 

In  this  grade  and  higher  grades,  it  is  ques- 
tionable how  much  the  teacher  pupil  should 
help  the  weak  ones.  It  is  better  not  to  do  so 
much  helping  as  in  the  second  grade,  but  to 
establish  the  rule  that  the  pupil  who  cannot 
get  started  when  he  gets  iiis  chance  and  the 
one  who  breaks  down  for  any  cause  will  lose 


82    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

his  chance  and  the  next  one  takes  his  chance 
instantly.  This  plan  has  many  advantages,  as 
it  compels  the  pupil  to  prepare  himself  during 
his  study  time  and  it  makes  him  quicker  to 
seize  an  opportunity  when  it  comes  his  way. 

It  has  the  following  disadvantages:  In 
each  class  there  will  be  a  few  who  are  too 
indolent  to  work  or  who  think  it  not  worth 
while  or  impossible  for  them  to  learn  to  read 
music,  so  they  simply  stand  up  and  lose  their 
turn.  The  clever  teacher  will  soon  spot  these 
and  deal  with  them  in  various  ways.  The 
teacher  pupil  may  help  them  as  in  the  second 
grade,  or  better  yet,  the  teacher  pupil  may  drill 
them  out  of  school.  This  is  something  that 
pupils  like  to  do  very  much  and  a  clever 
teacher  will  have  the  poor  ones  kept  up  to 
grade  in  music  as  well  as  in  other  things  by 
enlisting  the  aid  of  the  better  pupils.  This  is 
good  for  all  concerned.  The  teacher  is  free 
to  do  other  work,  the  good  pupil  improves  by 
helping  another,  and  the  poor  one  gets  the 
needed  help.  The  great  lesson  of  cooperation 
is  learned  by  all  three. 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  83 

TWO-PART    WORK 

When  the  school  is  singing  two-part  work 
individually  four  pupils  should  stand  at  once. 
The  two  in  the  rear  should  sing  and  the  two 
in  front  be  ready  to  start  when  the  first  two 
have  finished.  The  element  of  team  work  is 
now  added  to  the  individual  work,  and  this 
complicates  matters.  Each  pupil  has  tp  learn 
to  carry  his  part  against  another  and,  to  do 
this  successfully,  he  must  not  only  read  both 
parts  but  he  must  listen  to  two  parts  while  he 
sings  his  own.  There  should  be  a  great  deal 
of  simple  material  available  for  this  purpose. 
None  of  the  music  books  now  on  the  market 
have  enough  simple  material  in  two  parts. 

TUNING 

In  one-part  work,  blowing  the  pitch  pipe  is 
a  sufficient  signal  for  starting.  In  two-part 
work  the  two  tones  must  be  brought  into  har- 
mony before  the  pupils  start.  In  two-part 
work,  the  teacher  should  blow  the  keynote  with 
the  pitch  pipe  and  the  whole  school  should 


84    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

sound  the  first  tone  in  each  part,  having  pre- 
viously been  told  which  side  of  the  room  is  to 
sing  the  soprano  and  which  side  the  alto.  At 
the  sound  of  the  pitch  pipe,  all  sing  their  re- 
spective first  tones  and  hold  them  until  the 
teacher  taps  twice.  This  signal  means  that  the 
vwo  pupils  in  the  rear  of  the  two  selected  rows 
start  to  sing  the  passage  while  the  rest  listen 
and  study.  If  the  first  two  pupils  sing  the 
passage  correctly,  the  whole  school  will  then 
sing  it  over  after  them  to  give  it  their  approval. 
If  the  passage  is  sung  incorrectly,  the  next  two 
pupils  take  it  up  and  so  on  until  it  is  sung  cor- 
rectly. It  will  sometimes  happen  that  when 
only  one  part  is  sung  correctly,  the  other  pupils 
belonging  to  that  part  will  start  to  repeat  the 
passage  as  if  both  parts  were  right.  This  will 
bring  out  the  fact  that  the  pupils  who  are  not 
singing  are  reading  and  listening  to  but  one 
part  instead  of  reading  and  listening  to  both 
parts.  The  teacher  should  stop  them  at  once 
as  the  school  must  not  sing  unless  both  parts 
are  correctly  sung. 

Two-part  individual  work  is  often  very  dis- 
couraging at  first,  and  teachers  are  tempted  to 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  85 

slight  it  and  conclude  that  it  is  impossible.  It 
will  often  be  found  that  the  readiest  readers 
are  slow  to  sing  the  lower  part  correctly,  and 
also  that  two  pupils,  singing,  will  not  keep  to- 
gether well.  Let  the  teacher  remember  that 
the  pupils  are  suddenly  called  upon  to  do  twice 
as  many  things  as  before  and  to  do  them  in  a 
different  manner  and  therefore  they  must  have 
time  to  practice  and  learn  how. 

When  two  pupils  do  not  keep  together  when 
singing  two-part  work  individually,  it  will  be 
for  one  or  more  of  several  reasons.  The 
principal  one  is  that  they  do  not  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  each  other.  The  teacher  will  be 
strongly  tempted  to  beat  time  loudly  or  have 
the  studying  pupils  beat  for  them.  Neither 
should  be  done.  Let  the  pupils  stand  in  adja- 
cent aisles  and  require  them  to  listen  to  each 
other. 

LISTENING  TO  EACH   OTHER 

When  pupils  stand  in  adjacent  aisles,  it  will 
be  necessary  for  them  to  walk  about  the  room 
to  get  into  their  places  but  this  will  give  a 
chance  for  them  to  learn  another  very  valuable 


86    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

lesson.  Let  them  learn  to  walk  around  the 
room  so  quietly  that  no  one  hears  them.  Let 
the  singing  pupils  stand  in  the  middle  of  the 
room  and  the  two  pupils  who  are  waiting  stand 
behind  them  so  as  to  step  into  their  places  as 
soon  as  the  first  two  have  finished.  The  first 
two  singers  should  then  go  to  their  seats  with- 
out passing  the  next  two  in  the  aisles.  Do  not 
have  the  singing  pupils  stand  in  front  of  the 
class.  You  want  the  other  pupils  to  listen  to 
them  and  not  to  look  at  them. 

The  pitch  pipe  should  not  be  blown  for  any 
of  the  singers  except  the  first  two.  Neither 
must  the  teacher  tell  any  of  them,  except  the 
first  two,  when  to  commence.  If  she  does 
either  of  these  things,  the  pupils  will  lose  the 
best  part  of  the  exercise.  Pupils  must  learn 
to  remember  their  starting  tone.  They  must 
learn  to  catch  it  correctly  by  listening  to  the 
other  part  when  they  have  forgotten  their  own 
starting  tone.  When  neither  of  the  two  pupils 
can  remember  the  correct  pitch,  the  class  or 
the  teacher  may  give  it. 

Two  pupils  must  start  when  it  comes  their 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  87 

turn  without  looking  at  each  other.  They 
must  do  it  by  ear.  This  is  the  best  kind  of 
ear  training.  A  singer  must  learn  to  keep 
with  other  singers  by  ear,  and  no  child  is  too 
young  to  do  it. 

When  pupils  get  more  expert  in  hearing 
each  other,  they  may  stand  at  their  own  desks 
and  not  in  adjacent  aisles.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
have  them  stand  in  the  same  aisle,  as  it  brings 
them  too  near  together. 

When  all  the  passages  in  the  piece  have  been 
worked  out  correctly,  individually,  and  have 
been  verified  by  the  school,  the  school  should 
sing  the  whole  piece  in  concert. 

The  words  may  now  be  taken  up  individ- 
ually. When  they  have  been  learned  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  notes  were  learned,  all 
the  pupils  may  sing  the  piece  through,  point- 
ing to  the  notes.  They  then  stop  pointing, 
hold  the  books  up  and  sing  it  again.  Then 
close  the  books  and  sing  from  memory  with  ex- 
pression. 

It  is  well  to  have  all  the  pupils  learn  to  sing 
both  parts,  but  it  is  hardly  wise  to  let  them  sing 


88    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

both  parts  of  the  same  piece.     They  may  al- 
ternate on  different  pieces. 

KEEP    GOING 

The  class  should  keep  going  without  prompt- 
ing in  the  two-part  individual  work  the  same 
as  in  one-part.  When  one  song  is  finished,  the 
pupils  should  take  the  next  without  being  told. 
If  the  teacher  wishes  to  speak  to  pupils,  the 
individual  work  should  go  on  just  the  same 
unless  she  says  "stop"  or  taps  three  times. 
It  is  very  valuable  training  for  the  pupils  to 
learn  to  go  on  with  their  work,  no  matter  what 
is  happening  around  them.  It  also  gives  them 
practice  in  keeping  track  of  more  than  one 
thing  at  a  time.  The  old  saw  that  speaks  of 
doing  one  thing  at  a  time  is  but  a  half  truth. 
A  child  must  learn  to  concentrate  on  several 
things  at  the  same  time.  It  is  the  time  that  it 
takes  the  average  person  to  stop  concentrat- 
ing on  one  thing  and  focus  his  mind  on  an- 
other that  wastes  his  life  and  makes  him  in- 
efficient. He  should  practice  concentration  on 
several  things  while  he  is  young,  and  the  mu- 
sic lesson  is  a  fine  opportunity  for  doing  it 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  89 

THREE   AND   FOUR    PARTS 

Individual  work  in  three  or  four  parts 
should  be  done  as  outlined  for  two.  Three 
and  four  stand  to  sing  and  three  and  four 
stand  to  wait.  At  first,  pupils  should  stand 
in  adjacent  aisles,  as  it  is  even  harder  to  hear 
three  and  four  parts  than  it  is  to  hear  two 
parts. 

The  school  should  sound  the  chord  to  start 
the  first  group  only  and  this  group  should  start 
singing  when  the  teacher  taps  twice.  This  is 
the  signal  for  the  first  group  to  start  singing 
and  the  rest  of  the  school  to  stop.  The  other 
groups  should  sing  without  signal  when  their 
turn  comes.  The  school  should  respond  only 
when  all  parts  are  sung  correctly.  It  is  not 
well  to  have  the  same  passage  sung  too 
many  times,  since  the  pupils  will  lose  in- 
terest and  will  get  dull  and  slow  in  their  read- 
ing. The  teacher  must  use  her  judgment  in 
this.  If  the  pupils  sing  the  same  passage  one 
after  the  other  and  make  the  same  mistake  they 
should  be  stopped  and  drilled  on  the  trouble- 
some passage,  as  it  means  that  the  later  singers 


90    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

arc  simply  copying  the  first  singer  by  car. 
When  each  pupil  makes  a  different  mistake  it 
is  well  to  let  them  work  it  out  if  it  does  not 
take  too  long.  A  good  rule  is  to  allow  groups 
of  pupils  to  try  a  passage  and  then  if  it  is  not 
correctly  sung  at  the  third  trial,  let  the  school 
sing  it  for  them.  It  is  difficult  to  make  a  rule 
that  will  fit  this,  and  each  teacher  must  use 
her  own  judgment. 

In  three  and  four-part  work  the  question  of 
material  is  again  a  difficult  one.  No  book  on 
the  market  gives  enough  simple  material  to 
start  either  three  or  four-part  singing. 

A  great  deal  of  individual  work  should  be 
done  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  in  three 
and  four  parts. 

LOSE  NO  TIME 

In  all  individual  singing  not  only  must  the 
different  individuals  and  groups  start  without 
being  told,  but  they  must  also  start  in  exact 
rhythm  with  the  preceding  individual  or  group, 
but  they  must  do  this  without  losing  a  beat. 
To  miss  this  point  is  to  miss  one  of  the  best 
and  most  vital  things  in  individual  singing. 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  91 

In  the  whole  range  of  school  work  there  is 
not  a  thing  that  approaches  individual  singing 
in  four  parts  as  a  mind  trainer.  Think  of  the 
number  of  things  a  pupil  must  do  when  sing- 
ing new  music  in  a  quartette.  He  must  read 
four  parts;  he  must  listen  to  four  parts;  he 
must  sing  one  part  and  do  all  this  in  time;  he 
must  keep  track  of  words,  meaning  and  ex- 
pression. The  pupils  who  are  not  singing  have 
nearly  as  much  to  do  and  have  the  added  re- 
sponsibility of  determining  whether  the  music 
is  sung  correctly  or  not.  Of  course,  it  de- 
pends on  the  teacher  whether  individual  work 
has  all  these  values  or  not,  but  when  it  is 
rightly  conducted  it  is  of  the  greatest  value. 
When  educators  really  see  the  value  of  this 
work  there  will  be  much  more  time  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  supervisor  of  music,  and 
the  superintendent  of  schools  will  also  see 
that  the  supervisor  of  music  uses  his  time  in  a 
way  that  counts. 

DICTATION 

There  is  another  form  of  individual  work 
that  should  be  done  in  every  grade  from  the 


92    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

second  to  the  sixth  inclusive.     It  is  a  writ- 
ten exercise  like  the  following: 

The  teacher  should  place  a  staff  on  the  board 
before  the  class  is  called.  This  staff  should 
be  about  three  feet  long,  the  lines  very  heavy 
and  at  least  three  inches  apart.  The  pupils 
should  be  supplied  with  staff-ruled  paper. 
The  teacher  writes  on  her  staff  the  signature 
of  the  key  the  pupils  are  to  use  in  the  lesson. 
The  pupils  do  the  same.  The  teacher  then 
blows  the  pitch  pipe  as  a  signal  for  two  pupils 
to  rise  and  be  ready  to  sing.  Then  she  begins 
to  write  groups  of  notes  on  the  staff  and  the 
first  child  sings  them  as  fast  as  she  writes. 
He  should  sing  them  smoothly  and  hold  the 
last  one  until  the  teacher  writes  another  group 
or  says  "next."  This  means  that  the  next 
child  sings,  the  first  one  sits,  and  another  one 
rises.  The  class  looks  at  the  board  and  listens 
to  the  singer.  Continue  this  exercise  for  half 
a  minute.  The  teacher  should  now  dictate 
groups  of  tones  by  syllable  for  the  class  to 
write.  Let  some  pupil  sing  the  dictated  notes 
while  the  pupils  in  the  rear  seats  go  along  the 
aisles  and  see  that  the  pupils  write  the  notes 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  93 

correctly.  Continue  this  exercise  for  half  a 
minute,  and  then  start  the  lesson  in  the  books. 
The  last  tone  dictated  should  be  the  first  one 
in  the  piece  to  be  sung.  The  individual  work 
just  outlined  is  to  encourage  rapid  visualiza- 
tion. 

SING  WORDS   FIRST 

In  doing  individual  work,  as  well  as  concert 
work,  pupils  should  sing  the  words  first  to  their 
songs  in  every  grade  as  much  as  possible. 

MOTIVE 

A  good  motive  for  individual  singing  is  to 
limit  the  progress  in  the  book  to  what  the  pu- 
pils can  do  individually.  Another  is  to  give 
concerts.  In  preparing  for  concerts,  select  the 
program  from  the  book  that  is  being  used  and 
teach  the  pieces  as  a  part  of  the  regular  music 
work.  To  qualify  for  a  chorus,  each  pupil 
should  be  able  to  carry  his  part  in  a  duet,  trio 
or  quartette,  alone,  against  the  other  voices, 
with  a  smooth,  pleasant  tone  and  come  out  on 
the  key  without  the  aid  of  an  instrument. 
The  pupils  and  teachers  should  unite  in  select- 


94    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ing  pupils  for  these  quartettes.  The  pupils 
are  often  more  difficult  to  satisfy  than  the 
teachers. 

One  most  amusing  and  instructive  incident 
occurred  shortly  before  my  first  Minneapo- 
lis concert.  In  one  room  I  casually  asked 
how  many  were  to  be  in  the  concert.  Per- 
fect silence.  Some  looked  grieved  and  more 
looked  "huffy."  The  row  of  basses  looked 
sheepish.  I  asked  again  and  a  small  girl 
snapped  out,  "Nobody."  I  said,  "That  is 
too  bad ;  what  is  the  trouble?"  With  a  wither- 
ing glance  at  the  row  of  big  boys,  she  ex- 
claimed: "None  of  the  basses  can  sing." 
There  it  was.  None  of  the  pupils  could  sing 
in  the  concert,  as  they  had  to  go  by  quartettes 
and  there  were  no  basses  available.  I  said, 
"That  is  too  bad.  Your  teacher  and  I  haven't 
time  to  do  it.  Why  don't  some  of  you  pick 
out  the  likeliest  voices  among  the  basses  and 
teach  them  to  sing?"  Their  faces  lighted  up. 
I  said  no  more  and  went  my  way.  Three 
weeks  after,  I  visited  that  building  and  at  the 
piano  in  the  lower  hall  was  a  tableau :  A  big, 
perspiring  youth   surrounded   by   three   girls. 


INDIVIDUAL  SINGING  95 

They  were  all  so  interested  that  they  didn't 
notice  me  and  I  heard  this  Parthian  arrow, 
from  the  small  feminine  leader,  light  in  the 
quivering  soul  of  the  toiling  bass.  "You  great 
big  Ike,  don't  you  know  that's  'do'  ?" 

There  were  other  similar  groups  about  the 
building  and,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  that 
room  sent  four  quartettes.  The  boys  had 
learned  several  things  besides  how  to  sing  the 
test  piece.  They  had  had  a  small  lesson  in 
public  spirit,  team  work,  and  cooperation. 

We  had  three  general  rehearsals  of  one  hour 
each,  and  the  concert  was  a  great  success. 
The  chorus  was  a  good  one  to  handle,  as  each 
member  of  it  was  an  independent  singer  and 
they  quickly  learned  to  follow  the  baton. 
They  sang  in  perfect  tune,  as  each  voice  was 
singing  the  part  that  was  easiest  for  it.  They 
sang  two  verses  of  "Sweet  and  Low"  unac- 
companied and  came  out  on  the  key.  There 
was  no  one  absent  from  rehearsals  or  from 
the  concert,  as  each  one  knew  that  it  meant  a 
whole  quartette  dropping  out  if  one  pupil 
stayed  away.  The  chorus  was  perfectly  bal- 
anced, as  there  was  the  same  number  on  each 


96    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

part.  There  was  no  inattention  or  disturbance 
at  any  of  the  rehearsals,  as  it  was  distinctly 
understood  that  if  there  was,  the  one  making  it 
would  have  to  pick  out  the  rest  of  his  quartette 
and  take  them  home  with  him.  They  could 
easily  figure  out  what  it  would  mean  if  the 
disturbing  one  were  left  alone  with  the  other 
three  members  of  his  quartette  and  so  there 
was  no  whispering  or  other  trouble  of  any  kind 
at  the  concert  or  rehearsals. 

The  effect  on  the  district  was  immediate  and 
final.  The  people  of  that  district  were  much 
please!  and  the  pupils  got  a  new  idea  of  the 
dignity  of  music.  Later  we  gave  a  number 
of  concerts  in  the  different  parts  of  the  city, 
and  all  the  choruses  were  chosen  in  a  similar 
manner. 

The  pupils  are  now  so  used  to  individual 
work  that  they  take  their  turns  as  in  other 
subjects.  They  do  not  always  sing  correctly 
and  probably  never  will.  But  the  fact  that 
they  realize  the  value  of  individual  work  and 
take  that  way  to  learn  is  sufficient  guarantee 
that  they  will  get  something  permanent  as  the 
years  go  by. 


CHAPTER  VII 

BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING 

Where  to  commence  the  reading  of  music 
is  a  mooted  question.  Some  say  early,  some 
say  late.  Judging  from  results,  some  do  not 
seem  to  believe  in  it  at  all.  Taking  everything 
into  consideration,  it  seems  that  the  beginning 
of  the  second  grade  is  the  proper  time  to  start 
sight  singing. 

We  used  to  begin  teaching  the  scale  the  mo- 
ment the  child  was  safely  in  our  clutches,  but 
we  know  better  now  and  realize  that  he  must 
have  a  musical  experience  before  he  learns 
to  read  music,  the  same  as  he  must  have  a 
language  experience  before  he  learns  to  read 
language.  The  child  should  know  a  number  of 
rote  songs,  and  be  able  to  use  his  ear  and 
voice  intelligently  before  he  begins  to  read  mu- 
sic. I  have  seen  most  excellent  reading  done 
by  pupils  in  the  first  grade  who  commenced 
note  reading  at  the  end  of  four  months  of  rote 
97 


98    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

work.  This  was  under  a  very  exceptional 
primary  teacher  who  believed  in  letting  chil- 
dren work.  All  children  like  to  work  until 
they  have  become  discouraged  by  the  teacher, 
who  thinks  it  is  her  duty  to  keep  her  pupils 
from  working  as  long  as  possible. 

PATTERN    SONGS 

Ten  or  fifteen  of  the  rote  songs  taught  in 
the  first  grade  should  be  used  as  pattern  songs 
for  beginning  music  reading.  These  pattern 
songs  should  be  slow,  short,  and  simple,  with 
well  marked  phrases  and  no  divided  beats. 
There  are  a  number  of  systems  of  music  books 
that  commence  the  reading  of  music  by  the 
use  of  pattern  songs,  but  the  pattern  songs  are 
usually  too  long,  too  difficult,  and  too  rapid. 
They  should  be  as  simple  as  the  songs  to  be 
read  by  note  later.  It  is  from  these  pattern 
songs  that  the  children  observe  the  process  of 
music  reading. 

The  pattern  songs  should  be  very  carefully 
chosen  and  very  carefully  taught  in  the  first 
grade.  The  syllable  names  should  never  be 
taught  in  advance  as  an  extra  verse  in  a  rote 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING        99 

song,  as  is  almost  universally  done.  They  can 
be  taught  much  more  quickly  and  far  more 
effectively  while  the  children  are  looking  at 
the  notes. 

The  pattern  songs  should  be  in  several  keys. 
Four  or  five  in  the  first  key,  two  or  three  in 
the  second,  and  one  each  in  the  rest  of  the 
keys.  Each  phrase  in  the  book  first  used 
should  be  on  a  line  by  itself  so  that  the 
phrasing  will  be  clear  and  the  notes  should  be 
very  large  and  plain. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  to  have  the  pattern 
songs  properly  sung.  If  the  pupils  have 
learned  to  sing  well  and  can  sing  each  phrase 
with  a  perfectly  smooth,  steady  tone,  they  will 
have  little  or  no  trouble  in  learning  to  read 
music.  This  point  cannot  be  too  strongly  em- 
phasized. If  second  grade  pupils  do  not  sing 
with  a  smooth  tone,  it  will  be  of  no  use  to  try 
to  teach  music  reading  until  the  smooth  sing- 
ing habit  is  established. 

The  pupils  begin  learning  the  intervals  of 
the  scale  by  singing  the  pattern  songs  from 
the  notation.  The  tones  should  be  sustained  in 
order  to  make  clear  and  vivid  impressions.     If 


100    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  tone  is  choppy,  it  is  an  indication  of  poor 
attention.  The  attention  is  always  poor  when 
the  tone  is  jumpy  and  is  always  good  when  the 
tone  is  smooth.  The  very  fact  that  the  tone 
is  smooth  and  sustained  means  that  the  chil- 
dren have  learned  the  self-control  that  is  neces- 
sary for  the  close  application  required  in  read- 
ing music.  When  the  tone  is  smooth,  the 
pupils  will  not  only  be  able  to  hear  and  see  the 
various  elements  that  make  up  the  songs  but 
they  will  be  in  that  calm,  alert  mental  state 
necessary  for  learning  anything. 

FIRST  LESSONS  IN  MUSIC  READING 

Send  to  the  fourth  or  fifth  grades  for  as 
many  good  readers  of  music  as  there  are  pupils 
in  the  second  grade  class.  Let  these  children 
sit  with  the  second  grade  pupils  and  teach  them. 
Much  depends  on  the  success  of  the  first  few 
lessons.  If  a  child  understands  a  problem  the 
first  time  he  looks  at  it,  he  has  it  to  keep,  and 
a  fine  mental  habit  is  formed.  If  he  merely 
looks  toward  it  he  gets  duller  instead  of 
brighter.     Observation  of  this  fact  is  one  of 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      101 

the  secrets  of  the  success  of  the  Montessori 
method. 

READING  PATTERN  SONGS 

Lay  the  books  flat  and  square  in  the  middle 
of  the  desk.  Open  the  books  to  the  first  pat- 
tern song  and  have  all  the  children  sing  the 
words.  The  young  children  do  not,  of  course, 
know  the  syllable  names,  but  the  older  chil- 
dren can  read  them.  The  younger  children, 
knowing  the  words  and  the  tune  perfectly,  will 
be  greatly  interested  in  seeing  the  picture  of 
the  song  they  already  know.  The  older  chil- 
dren should  sit  at  the  right  of  the  younger 
ones  and  sing  the  pattern  songs  by  syllable,  at 
the  same  time  showing  the  young  children  how 
to  point  to  the  notes. 

HOW  TO  POINT 

The  last  three  fingers  of  the  pointing  hand 
should  be  doubled  against  the  palm.  The 
thumb  should  be  held  firmly  against  the  middle 
joint  of  the  first  finger.  This  will  keep  the 
first  finger  stiff  and  make  the  down  and  up 


102    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

movement  of  the  hand  come  from  the  wrist 
joint  as  the  first  ringer,  extended  straight, 
points  just  underneath  the  notes,  one  point  to 
each  beat.  This  little  trick  of  using  the  hand 
correctly  in  beating  time  is  very  important.  If 
the  child  moves  his  whole  forearm,  he  will  not 
be  able  to  point  accurately  under  the  notes  and 
if  he  uses  his  finger  only,  it  will  be  apt  to  go 
too  fast  and  destroy  the  regularity  of  the 
rhythm.  Regularity  in  the  down  and  up  move- 
ment of  the  pointing  hand  must  grow  into  a 
fixed  habit  as  soon  as  possible.  The  necessity 
of  this  will  be  seen  later.  The  children  have 
one  habit  already  established,  the  steady  move- 
ment of  the  rib  and  waist  muscles  as  outlined 
in  the  chapter  on  singing.  Care  must  be  taken 
that  this  first  habit  is  not  impaired  while  ac- 
quiring the  second.  Without  the  first  habit, 
the  second  would  be  futile. 

Let  the  older  children  teach  the  younger  ones 
this  movement  of  the  hand  as  they  sing  the 
syllables  of  the  pattern  songs.  Let  the  pupils 
go  over  the  pattern  songs  a  number  of  times, 
pointing  to  the  notes  as  already  explained. 
Do  not  dwell  too  long  on  the  first  song,  which 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      103 

should  be  in  the  key  of  E  or  E  flat,  so  that 
"doh"  comes  on  the  first  line.  After  going 
over  the  first  pattern  song  four  or  five  times, 
the  older  children  should  stop  singing  and  let 
the  younger  ones  try  it  alone.  The  older  chil- 
dren may  help  when  the  younger  ones  stumble. 
Be  sure  that  the  hands  move  steadily,  no  mat- 
ter how  many  notes  the  pupils  miscall.  The 
tone  should  go  on  smoothly,  no  matter 
whether  the  children  sing  anything  correctly  or 
not;  in  short,  preserve  the  logical  sequence  of 
sing  first,  time  second,  and  notes  third.  The 
older  children  will  not  be  needed  after  the  first 
four  or  five  lessons,  although  it  may  be  well  to 
have  one  retained  for  each  row  for  a  week  or 
two  longer,  so  that  the  younger  pupils  will  not 
go  astray. 

INDIVIDUAL  WORK 

Just  as  soon  as  the  second  grade  pupils,  as 
a  class,  can  sing  the  first  pattern  song  correctly, 
let  individuals  try  it.  In  doing  individual 
work,  start  with  the  pupil  in  the  back  seat  and 
let  each  one  try  it  down  the  row,  the  teacher- 
pupil  going  down  the  aisle  and  helping  each  one 


104    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

as  needed.  Let  each  child  try  a  phrase  and  if 
it  is  right,  let  the  whole  school  sing  it  after 
him  without  being  told.  If  not,  let  the  next 
pupil  do  it  without  being  told,  as  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  doing  in  the  first  grade.  You  are 
trying  to  develop  initiative,  so  begin  early. 

Individual  work,  if  skillfully  done,  will  in- 
terest the  children  very  greatly  and  they  will 
soon  ask  permission  to  take  their  books  home. 
Let  them  do  this,  for  it  is  by  the  constant  sing- 
ing of  the  pattern  songs  that  children  learn 
tones  and  rhythm  and  become  familiar  with  the 
staff  notation,  knowledge  that  will  soon  be  used 
in  reading  new  songs. 

USE  OF  CHART 

Prepare  a  chart  that  is  a  facsimile  of  the 
first  pattern  song.  As  soon  as  the  second 
grade  children  can  sing  this  song  from  the 
books  and  a  few  of  them  can  sing  it  individ- 
ually, the  teacher  should  point  to  the  notes  of 
the  same  song  on  the  chart  and  require  the 
pupils  to  hold  each  note  until  she  points  to  an- 
other or  says  "stop."  The  pupils  should  go 
from  one  tone  to  another  without  making  a 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      105 

pause  between.  This  will  enable  them  to  com- 
pare tones  more  accurately  and  learn  intervals 
with  much  greater  facility.  It  will  also  em- 
phasize the  habit  of  singing  the  "smooth,  sus- 
tained tone."  In  pointing  to  the  notes  as  they 
occur  in  the  song,  the  teacher  should  require 
the  pupils  to  hold  some  of  the  tones  longer  than 
the  rhythm  requires,  in  order  to  contemplate 
the  relationship  to  other  tones.  A  slight  varia- 
tion from  the  melody  will  help  the  children  to 
image  the  tones  more  independently.  The 
pupils  now  begin  to  see,  hear,  and  recognize  the 
different  tones  that  go  to  make  up  the  tune. 
Much  of  the  chart  work  should  be  done  individ- 
ually. 

STAFF  CHART 

So  far,  the  children  have  seen  principally  the 
notes  and  very  vaguely  the  places  of  the  notes 
on  the  staff.  The  next  step  is  to  make  them 
see  the  lines  and  spaces  of  the  staff  more 
clearly. 

Prepare  a  chart,  consisting  of  a  bare  staff 
with  heavy  black  lines  about  three  inches  apart, 
without  clef  or  signature. 


106    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

The  teacher  points  to  the  lines  and  spaces  as 
the  children  sing.  The  pupils  hold  each  tone 
until  the  teacher  points  to  another  line  or  space 
or  until  she  says  "stop."  The  voices  should 
not  stop  when  passing  from  one  tone  to  an- 
other. The  teacher  who  neglects  this  point 
will  never  teach  second  grade  music  well.  The 
school  that  sings  with  a  perfectly  smooth  tone 
will  do  ten  times  as  much  music  reading  as 
the  one  that  sings  with  a  choppy  tone.  The 
reason  is  this :  the  pupils  are  comparing  tones 
all  the  time  and  if  the  tones  are  short  and  far 
apart  they  will  forget  one  before  the  next  is 
heard.  The  slow  tones  compel  deep  breathing, 
which  in  turn  aerates  the  blood  more  rapidly 
and  makes  the  mind  more  active  and  retentive 
of  impressions. 

The  teacher  may  vary  this  exercise  by  calling 
for  the  tones  by  naming  the  lines  and  spaces 
thus :  "Sing  the  note  in  the  first  line,  on  the 
second  line,  on  the  second  space,"  etc.  The 
pupils  should  be  looking  at  the  staff  when  they 
do  this.  If  each  one  had  a  large  staff  on  a 
piece  of  paper  while  doing  this,  it  might  also 
nelp  a  little. 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      107 

The  children  should  have  a  great  deal  of 
practice  in  recognizing  the  various  elements 
that  go  to  make  up  the  notation  of  music.  A 
number  of  little  helps  are  here  appended  and 
the  children  should  do  them  as  "seat  work." 

The  best  one  to  use  is  to  let  the  children  take 
unruled  paper  and  draw  the  staff  and  copy  the 
notes  of  the  songs  on  the  staff  and  write  the 
syllable  names  underneath.  This  can  be  done 
with  the  pattern  songs  and  the  new  reading 
songs  as  they  are  learned. 

Another  device  is  to  have  small  desk  charts 
with  bare  staves  and  allow  the  pupils  to  re- 
produce the  notes  with  lentils  or  small 
disks. 

This  copying  of  the  songs  should  begin  as 
soon  as  the  pupils  have  learned  the  first  pat- 
tern song.  The  teacher  will  not  have  time  to 
correct  all  this  seat  work,  but  should  allow 
some  of  the  quicker  children  to  help  the  poorer 
ones, 

READING  NEW  SONGS 

As  soon  as  the  pupils  can  sing  the  pattern 
songs  in  the  first  key  correctly,   individually 


103    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

(the  teacher  must  use  her  judgment  as  to  how 
long  to  wait  for  the  slow,  the  lame,  and  the 
lazy) ,  the  reading  of  songs  that  have  not  been 
learned  by  rote  should  begin.  The  class  should 
be  ready  for  this  at  the  end  of  the  third  week 
— sooner,  rather  than  later.  Care  must  be 
taken  not  to  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry,  but 
there  is  greater  danger  of  going  too  slow. 

Now  let  the  pupils  turn  to  a  song  they  have 
not  learned  by  rote.  It  must  be  very  simple 
and  in  the  same  key  as  the  group  of  pattern 
songs  they  have  been  studying.  In  the  work 
already  done  with  the  pattern  songs  the  signal 
for  starting  has  been  merely  the  blowing  of 
the  pitch  pipe.  This  is  sufficient  for  the  new 
songs.  Sound  the  pitch  pipe  and  see  what  they 
will  do.  If  they  are  well  prepared  and  the 
teacher  has  not  talked  at  them  all  the  time  dur- 
ing the  preparatory  work,  they  will  sing  the 
new  song  right  off  the  first  time.  If  they  do 
not  do  this,  let  them  try  again,  in  concert  of 
course.  If,  at  the  third  trial,  they  do  not  do 
this,  go  back  to  a  pattern  song  in  the  same  key 
and  repeat  the  preliminary  drills  already  de- 
scribed and  then  try  again. 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      109 

PHRASING 

In  all  the  pattern  song  work  the  teacher 
should  insist  on  proper  phrasing.  The  book 
should  have  one  phrase  to  a  line  and  the  pupils 
must  be  watched  very  closely  to  see  that  they 
take  breath  only  at  the  end  of  each  phrase. 
If  this  habit  is  well  established  the  pupils  will 
phrase  new  songs  properly.  If  they  do  not, 
they  must  be  made  to  do  it  at  once.  There 
should  be  no  poor  phrasing  with  the  new  read- 
ing. Not  only  must  the  pupils  sing  the  phrases 
correctly  the  first  time,  as  to  length,  but  they 
must  carry  a  perfectly  smooth  tone  through 
the  phrase  the  first  time  they  go  through  it. 
Also  the  rhythm  must  be  slow  and  even,  no 
matter  how  many  notes  they  miscall  or  how 
many  tones  they  get  wrong. 

The  logical  sequence  of  reading  music  must 
be  observed:  Tone,  Time,  Notes,  and  then 
Words  and  Expression.  Permitting  the  pupils 
to  stop  the  rhythm  to  get  the  name  of  the  note 
is  very  objectionable.  Let  them  use  any  syl- 
lable if  they  cannot  think  of  the  right  one  at 
the  right  time.     It  matters  not  what  mistakes 


110    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

they  make  in  pitch  or  syllable  names  so  long 
as  the  tone  is  smooth  and  the  rhythm  steady. 
If  permitted,  the  pupils  will  quickly  form  habits 
of  uneven  tone  and  rhythm  that  will  be  very 
difficult  to  overcome. 

Strict  adherence  to  this  rule  of  teaching  the 
elements  of  music  in  their  logical  sequence 
will  do  much  for  the  child's  mind  as  well  as 
much  for  his  music  reading  ability.  The  same 
problem  is  found  in  the  writing  lesson.  Speed 
first  and  accuracy  next.  Teachers  are  apt  to 
think  the  tone  or  letter  is  the  important  thing. 
The  important  thing  is  the  habit  the  child  is 
forming.     Get  the  big  things  right  first. 

INDIVIDUAL  WORK 

When  the  pupils  can  sing  the  new  song  cor- 
rectly as  a  class,  let  individuals  try.  Let  the 
pupil  in  the  rear  seat  sing  the  first  phrase.  If 
he  sings  it  correctly  the  whole  school  may  sing 
it  after  him  to  tell  the  teacher  it  is  right  If  it 
is  incorrect,  the  next  pupil  takes  it  up  and  so 
on  down  the  row  until  some  one  sings  it  cor- 
rectly. The  pupils  are  supposed  to  be  seated 
according  to  ear  and  reading  ability,  placing 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      HI 

best  singers  in  the  back  seats.  If  a  pupil  names 
the  notes  correctly  and  gets  the  tones  wrong, 
he  must  not  be  put  in  the  rear.  It  is  not  a 
good  plan  to  have  children  with  poor  ears  in 
the  rear  seats,  even  if  they  do  read  well. 

As  this  individual  work  goes  on  down  the 
row,  the  pupil  in  the  rear  seat  should  rise  and 
follow  down  the  row  to  be  ready  to  help  the 
pupils  who  stumble.  This  helping  must  be 
cleverly  done  and  the  rhythm  must  not  stop. 
The  helping  child  must  help  only  when  help  is 
needed  and  then  help  by  taking  up  the  tune 
where  the  child  stumbled  and  carrying  it  along 
in  time.  The  pupils  must  not  call  it  right  when 
a  child  has  to  be  helped.  Allowing  the  pupils 
to  teach  each  other  is  a  fine  thing  for  the  pupils 
and  leaves  the  teacher  free  to  direct  and  teach 
others  who  need  it. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  allow  the  child  who  has 
been  helped  to  immediately  try  it  alone  once 
or  perhaps  twice  before  the  next  pupil  takes 
it  up.  It  will  not  do  to  allow  him  to  try  it 
too  many  times,  as  the  lesson  must  proceed.  It 
*s  a  poor  plan  to  allow  too  many  children  to 
try  the  same  passage,  as  this  will  make  slow 


112    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

readers  of  the  class.  A  good  plan  is  to  allow 
only  three  or  four  pupils  to  try  the  same  pas- 
sage and  then  if  it  is  still  sung  incorrectly,  the 
whole  class  may  sing  it.  The  teacher  must 
use  her  judgment  in  this  as  in  everything  else 
and  fit  her  methods  to  her  pupils. 

SINGING   WORDS 

As  soon  as  the  class  and  a  number  of  in- 
dividuals can  sing  the  notes  of  the  new  song 
correctly,  the  words  should  be  applied.  The 
application  of  words  to  notes  must  be  skillfully 
done  if  the  pupils  are  to  learn  to  read  music. 
What  the  children  will  want  to  do  is  to  remem- 
ber the  tune.  What  they  must  do  is  to  read 
the  tune  as  they  are  applying  the  words.  In 
other  words,  if  the  word  comes  on  "do"  the 
child  must  think  "do"  as  he  sings  the  word. 
This  is  where  the  teacher  must  watch  the  work- 
ing of  the  child's  mind  very  closely. 

Instead  of  allowing  the  pupils  to  point  to 
the  words  while  they  are  singing  them,  they 
must  point  to  the  notes  instead,  to  keep  the 
tones  in  mind.  To  help  the  teacher  follow  the 
child's  mind  and  to  see  whether  he  is  thinking 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      113 

tones  through  the  notes  or  merely  remember- 
ing the  tune,  let  the  pupils  point  above  the 
notes  so  that  the  notes  will  come  between  the 
end  of  the  pointing  finger  and  the  words.  The 
pupil  should  lay  the  fist  on  the  book  above  the 
notes  and  turn  the  pointing  finger  towards  him- 
self. By  leaving  the  outside  edge  of  the  hand 
on  the  book  or  desk  and  rolling  the  hand  there 
will  be  about  two  inches  down  and  up  motion 
to  the  extended  first  finger  which  will  keep 
the  time  steady  and  enable  the  pupil  to  bring 
the  end  of  the  first  finger  just  above  the  note 
as  he  sings  the  word.  This  little  point  can  not 
be  too  closely  watched  by  both  pupil  and 
teacher.  It  is  a  perfect  index  to  what  the  child 
is  thinking  about.  If  he  is  thinking  of  the 
syllable  name  of  the  note,  the  finger  will  come 
down  exactly  above  the  note.  If  he  is  thinking 
of  the  words  only  and  trying  to  remember  the 
tune,  his  finger  will  come  down  anywhere.  He 
may  cover  the  note  and  point  to  the  word. 
This  means  that  he  is  not  thinking  of  the  note 
at  all  but  is  trying  to  remember  the  tune.  Here 
is  where  teachers  fail  very  often.  The  differ- 
ence of  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  the  placing  of 


114    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  tip  of  the  first  finger  when  pupils  are  sing- 
ing the  words  of  a  new  song  spells  either  suc- 
cess or  failure.  This  seems  so  small  and 
trifling  a  point  that  teachers  often  fail  to  grasp 
it  at  all,  and  their  music  is  a  failure  as  a  con- 
sequence. I  have  often  been  criticized  for 
having  pupils  beat  time  too  much,  but  beating 
time  and  pointing  to  notes  is  not  all  for  the 
child — it  is  partly  to  help  the  teacher  to  know 
what  the  child  is  doing  and  the  teacher  who 
does  not  watch  closely  the  working  of  the 
child's  mind  all  the  time  he  is  in  school  had 
better  change  her  occupation. 

When  the  pupils  are  reading  the  syllable 
names  of  a  new  song,  the  time  must  go  on  cor- 
rectly. In  the  reading  of  words,  this  is  true 
also  but  there  are  a  few  exceptions.  When  the 
pupils  are  applying  the  words  to  a  tune,  let 
them  go  through  it  in  absolute  rhythm  the 
first  time.  When  they  are  sure  of  the  rhythm 
and  the  tone  is  perfectly  smooth  and  there  are 
still  some  mistakes,  the  teacher  may  risk  a 
little  help  in  the  following  way:  If  the  pupils 
are  thinking  the  syllable  names  of  the  notes  as 
they  are  singing  the  words,  there  will  be  no 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      115 

mistakes  if  they  are  thinking  the  tones  cor- 
rectly. To  test  this  the  teacher  may  tap  once 
(as  outlined  elsewhere)  or  say  "note"  when 
the  pupils  are  singing  a  word  to  a  wrong  tune. 
At  this  the  pupils  should  put  the  pointing  finger 
down  on  the  book  above  the  note  and  hold  it 
there  while  they  hold  the  tone.  If  the  pupils 
respond  instantly  with  the  syllable  name,  it  is 
proof  that  they  are  thinking  the  syllable  name. 
If  they  hesitate  and  have  to  think  before  re- 
sponding, it  is  proof  that  they  have  been  guess- 
ing and  they  should  be  trained  not  to  guess  but 
to  think.  If  they  respond  instantly  with  the 
syllable  name  and  have  the  tone  wrong,  the 
teacher  may  tell  them  it  is  wrong  but  they 
must  find  it  themselves.  If  they  do  not  get  it, 
the  teacher  may  say  it  is  higher  or  lower  until 
they  find  it.  The  tone  must  not  stop  during 
all  this  and  as  soon  as  the  correct  tone  is  found, 
the  word  should  be  sung,  and  at  two  taps  the 
rhythm  taken  up  and  the  song  continued. 

FINISHING  A  SONG 

As  soon  as  the  pupils  can  sing  the  words  of 
the  song  through  correctly,  while  pointing,  let 


116    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

them  hold  the  book  up  in  both  hands  with  the 
elbows  on  the  desk  as  far  apart  as  is  comfort- 
able, the  chest  held  high  and  the  top  of  the 
book  about  on  a  level  with  the  eye.  Let  them 
sing  the  song  through  once,  looking  at  the 
book.  Then  let  them  close  the  book,  keeping 
the  thumb  in  place,  and  sing  the  song  from 
memory.  If  they  know  the  words  of  the  song 
and  have  read  the  meaning,  they  will  sing  it 
with  good  expression,  but  if  the  expression 
does  not  suit  the  teacher,  she  should  ask  the 
pupils  to  tell  her  what  the  words  mean  and  thus 
bring  out  the  meaning  of  the  song  with  its 
proper  expression.  It  is  not  teaching  expres- 
sion for  the  teacher  to  stand  up  and  beat  time 
before  the  class  to  show  them  how  to  do  it. 
The  pupils  must  be  left  to  express  their  own 
ideas  instead  of  the  teacher's.  As  soon  as 
the  proper  expression  is  obtained  and  the  song 
memorized,  the  pupils  have  a  new  song  added 
to  their  repertoire. 

Holding  up  the  book  and  singing  and  then 
closing  and  remembering  and  then  starting 
along  on  the  next  piece  should  be  made  a  habit 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING      117 

as  soon  as  possible  and  the  children  should 
learn  to  know  when  a  song  is  finished  as  well 
as  the  teacher,  without  being  told.  The  ma- 
chine should  be  a  "self  starter"  in  all  school 
work  and  especially  in  the  music. 

THE  SECOND   KEY 

When  all  the  songs  in  the  first  key  have  been 
learned,  turn  to  the  pattern  songs  in  the  sec- 
ond key.  The  older  children  will  not  be  needed 
here  and  you  will  very  likely  find  that  if  you 
tell  these  children  where  "do"  is  in  the  new 
key,  they  will  sing  the  syllables  correctly.  If 
they  do  not,  the  teacher  may  sing  the  syllable 
names  to  the  children  until  they  know  them, 
the  pupils  pointing  to  the  notes  on  the  page  as 
before.  A  drill  on  the  bare-staff  chart  will 
help.  If  needed,  a  chart  of  the  first  pattern 
song  in  the  second  key  may  be  made  and  used. 
This  all  depends  on  the  way  the  pupils  have 
learned  to  use  their  eyes  and  ears  in  the  first 
key.  Many  teachers  say  that  pupils  should 
change  keys  frequently,  but  this  need  is  ex- 
aggerated.    They  must  stay  on  the  first  one 


118    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

long  enough  to  learn  it.  Remember  too  tliat 
in  this  first  key  they  are  also  learning  the  in- 
tervals of  the  scale  as  well.  The  third  key  will 
go  easily  and  after  that  it  will  make  but  little 
difference  where  "do"  is,  so  long  as  the  pupils 
know  where  to  find  it.  Teach  them  at  once 
this  rule,  that  the  right  hand  sharp  is  "ti"  and 
the  right  hand  flat  is  "fa." 

ADVANCE  INDIVIDUAL  WORK 

So  far,  concert  work  has  preceded  the 
individual  work.  After  two  months  in  the 
second  grade  this  should  be  changed.  The 
new  work  should  be  taken  individually  first,  or 
at  least  a  part  of  it. 

A  good  proportion  would  be  to  have  one 
piece  in  advance  sung  individually  first  and  two 
in  concert.  The  ideal  way  is  to  have  all  the 
advance  work  sung  individually,  but  this  would 
not  allow  enough  practice  in  reading  for  all. 
If  there  is  too  much  individual  work  done,  the 
love  of  singing  languishes.  If  there  is  not 
enough  individual  work  done,  the  pupils  will 
not  know  anything.  The  teacher  must  find  the 
happy  medium. 


BEGINNING  SIGHT  SINGING       119 

MATERIAL 

The  second  grade  should  read  at  least  four 
or  five  of  the  primers  now  on  the  market.  If 
the  children  are  confined  to  any  one  primer 
they  will  never  learn  to  read  music  any  more 
than  they  would  learn  to  read  words  if  they 
used  only  one  language  primer.  The  great 
need  of  school  music  is  enough  simple  material 
for  this  grade.  The  books  all  get  hard  too 
soon. 

COMPASS  OF  THE   SONGS 

Pupils  in  the  second  grade  should  not  sing 
below  D.  G  above  the  staff  will  not  strain 
their  voices,  if  they  sing  softly.  Transpose  all 
music  into  this  compass. 

WRITING   MUSIC 

When  second  grade  pupils  have  been  reading 
music  about  two  months,  they  should  begin 
writing  music  to  dictation  as  outlined  in  the 
chapter  on  individual  work  (page  49). 

It  will  be  noticed  that  little  has  been  said 
about  drills  on  intervals  from  the  bare  staff. 


120    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

The  teacher  should  remember  that  reading  new 
songs  is  the  best  interval  drill  and  she  should 
use  her  judgment  as  to  how  much  special  drill- 
ing to  do. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EAR-TRAINING 

To  be  a  good  singer,  a  person  must  not  only- 
have  a  good  voice  but  a  correct  ear  that  will 
keep  him  in  time  as  well  as  in  tune.  Teachers 
have  invented  numerous  schemes  for  training 
the  ear.  So  numerous  and  so  queer  are  the 
devices  used  for  this  purpose  that  "ear-train- 
ing" has  fallen  into  disrepute  among  many 
thinking  teachers.  It  is  true  that  the  pupil 
must  have  a  great  deal  of  ear-training  before 
he  can  do  concerted  or  even  solo  work  success- 
fully, but  it  must  be  done  in  a  sane  and  sensible 
manner. 

There  are  numerous  "ear-training"  stunts 
that  are  worse  than  a  waste  of  time.  All  of 
those  in  which  the  teacher  or  pupil  sings  tones 
for  others  to  name  belong  in  this  category.  I 
recently  met  the  principal  of  one  of  the  grade 
schools  of  a  certain  city  and  asked  her  how 
she  liked  her  new  supervisor.  She  was  very 
121 


122    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

enthusiastic  over  the  new  arrival — called  her  a 
hustler  and  told  how  she  had  given  the  fifth 
and  sixth  grades  a  new  set  of  ear-training  ex- 
ercises that  took  ten  minutes  daily  to  perform. 
As  she  had  previously  told  me  that  the  daily 
music  lesson  was  but  fifteen  minutes,  I  asked 
her  when  the  pupils  were  to  sing.  Her  reply 
was  somewhat  vague. 

The  usual  ear-training  stunts  are  bad  be- 
cause they  prepare  the  pupil  for  the  future 
rather  than  the  present.  This  makes  them  of 
no  educational  value.  To  be  useful,  interest- 
ing, and  valuable,  all  drills  and  exercises  should 
have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  work  in  hand. 
The  need  of  drill  should  be  made  very  apparent 
to  the  pupil  or  there  will  be  a  lack  of  interest 
and  consequent  waste  of  time  and  energy. 
This  widespread  educational  weakness  is  not 
wholly  confined  to  music.  It  pervades  nearly 
everything  done  in  the  schoolroom. 

The  best  ear-training  comes  from  singing 
songs,  either  individually  or  in  concert.  Let 
the  pupil  do  enough  of  this  in  a  proper  manner 
and  his  ear  will  be  well  trained  without  waste 
of  time,  interest,  or  energy. 


EAR-TRAINING  123 

The  ear  performs  several  very  complicated 
and  important  functions.  It  tells  the  singer 
whether  or  not  his  voice  is  in  time  and  tune 
with  other  voices  or  instruments;  it  enables 
him  to  recognize  the  power,  quality,  and  rela- 
tive pitch  of  sounds  and  to  hear  all  the  tones 
that  are  sounding. 

Keeping  the  voice  in  tune  with  other  voices 
or  instruments  cannot  be  learned  too  early.  If 
it  is  not  learned  at  home,  it  must  be  taught  as 
soon  as  the  child  enters  the  kindergarten  or 
first  grade.  This  is  very  closely  connected 
with  smooth  singing,  and  the  teacher  should 
not  forget  that  it  is  impossible  to  begin  ear- 
training  of  the  proper  sort  before  the  child 
has  learned  to  make  a  smooth,  steady  tone,  for 
it  is  the  pupil's  own  voice  sounding  with  ethers 
that  trains  his  ear.  Nothing  else  will  do  it  so 
easily  or  effectively.  He  may  listen  to  musical 
sounds,  but  he  will  not  sing  in  tune  until  he 
has  had  plenty  of  practice  in  making  his  own 
voice  blend  with  others. 

When  children  begin  to  sing  in  school  a 
few  of  them  will  sing  the  tunes  correctly  the 
first  time  they  try.     These  are  naturally  tune- 


124    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ful  ones  or,  as  it  is  usually  expressed,  these 
have  "natural  musical  ears,"  and  will  not  have 
to  be  taught  to  sing  in  tune.  These  should 
be  placed  in  the  rear  seats.  A  number  of 
others  will  be  able  to  follow  the  tune  somewhat 
closely  but  will  not  be  able  to  sing  perfectly 
in  tune.  These  should  sit  in  front  of  those 
who  sing  perfectly.  Yet  others  will  be  found 
who  have  no  idea  of  singing  in  tune  and  these 
will  sit  in  the  front  seats  of  each  row. 

The  latter  two  classes  must  receive  special 
attention  in  order  to  bring  their  voices  into 
perfect  unison  with  the  other  voices.  Later 
they  will  learn  to  follow  the  tune  alone.  These 
children  must  be  tuned  or  taught  to  tune  them- 
selves in  much  the  same  way  a  piano  tuner 
tunes  the  piano. 

BEATS 

The  following  exercise  is  exceedingly  valu- 
able for  improving  the  ear  of  the  teacher  and 
making  her  more  critical  in  detecting  imperfect 
intonation.  Often  teachers  with  a  perfect  ear 
overlook  these  imperfections  because  they  do 
not  know  exactly  what  to  listen  for. 


EAR-TRAINING  123 

Strike,  very  loudly,  one  at  a  time,  a  number 
of  keys  near  the  middle  of  the  keyboard,  hold- 
ing down  each  key  until  the  sound  has  entirely 
died  away.  If  the  piano  is  slightly  out  of  tune 
(it  is  better  to  use  one  that  is  a  little  out  of 
tune)  the  sound  of  each  tone  will  waver  or 
will  have  "beats"  or  will  "whine,"  as  the  piano 
tuners  express  it.  Some  of  the  tones  will 
waver  rapidly,  some  slowly,  some  not  at  all. 
Three  wires  are  struck  by  each  hammer  at  the 
same  time  in  the  middle  of  the  modern  piano. 
When  these  three  wires  are  exactly  in  unison, 
the  tone  is  perfectly  steady.  When  they  differ 
in  pitch,  the  tone  is  unsteady  as  already  de- 
scribed. The  only  thing  the  teacher  need  learn 
in  this  exercise  is  to  hear  the  wavers  or 
"whines"  and  a  little  practice  will  enable  her 
to  do  so.  If  the  wavering  is  rapid,  it  means 
that  the  tone  is  badly  out  of  tune.  If  the 
wavering  is  slow,  it  means  that  the  tone  is 
more  nearly  in  tune.  If  the  tone  is  perfectly 
steady,  it  means  that  the  three  wires  are  in 
perfect  unison. 

The  teacher  must  learn  to  hear  the  wavers 
and  "whines"  in  the  singing  of  the  pupils  and 


126    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

tune  the  class  as  the  piano  tuner  tunes  the 
piano.  The  pupils  themselves  should  be  taught 
to  listen  for  these  wavers  and  to  eliminate  them 
by  sliding  their  voices  up  or  down  until  the 
wavers  disappear  and  they  are  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  the  rest  of  the  class. 

TUNING  A  CLASS 

In  the  kindergarten  and  first  grade  perfect 
intonation  may  be  developed  in  the  following 
way :  As  soon  as  the  school  has  learned  a  slow, 
smooth  song,  teach  the  pupils  to  hold  the 
last  tone  in  the  song  or  a  phrase  as  you  signal 
for  it  (as  explained  in  the  chapter  on  reading 
music,  page  35)  by  tapping  once.  If  the  tone 
is  not  smooth  (it  will  not  be  at  first),  stop 
the  poorer  singers  and  allow  only  the  better 
ones  to  hold  the  tone  until  it  is  perfect.  Then 
bring  the  rest  of  them  in  one  by  one,  stopping 
those  who  make  the  tone  waver  as  they  enter. 
This  exercise  may  be  used  for  a  minute  or 
two  at  each  lesson  and  all  will  soon  learn  to 
make  perfect  unisons. 

Do  not  construe  this  exercise  to  mean  that 
the  pupils  who  make  wavers  should  not  sing  at 


EAR-TRAINING     ,  127 

all  the  rest  of  the  time.  It  is  only  on  the  tests 
that  they  should  be  dropped  out  and  they  should 
have  practice  in  coming  in  at  every  lesson  until 
they  can  take  up  the  tone  of  the  school  without 
interfering  with  its  smoothness.  The  smallest 
child  will  soon  learn  to  listen  for,  hear,  and 
eliminate  the  wavers  on  long  tones  and  after- 
wards be  able  to  apply  the  principle  to  more 
rapid  passages. 

PART  TUNING 

When  the  music  has  more  than  one  part, 
the  ear-training  problems  will  be  somewhat  dif- 
ferent, since  the  opportunity  for  discordant 
singing  is  greater.  Not  only  must  the  pupil 
keep  in  tune  with  the  other  voices  on  the  same 
part,  but  the  different  parts  must  be  in  tune 
with  each  other.  To  give  the  pupil  a  chance 
to  learn  to  do  this,  the  teacher  may  use 
the  exercise  outlined  in  "part  singing"  where 
the  teacher  taps  once  and  the  pupils  hold  the 
tone  or  tones  they  are  singing.  Let  us  sup- 
pose the  pupils  are  singing  a  three-part  song 
and  the  teacher  wishes  to  test  a  certain  chord. 
When  the  pupils  reach  it,  she  taps  once  and 


128    GRAPE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

they  hold  the  chord.  If  the  chord  is  perfectly 
smooth,  she  may  tap  twice  and  send  them  on. 
The  chord  will  waver  if  the  tones  of  the  chord 
are  not  the  right  distance  apart,  even  though 
each  tone  is  perfectly  smooth  when  sung  alone. 
At  this  age,  pupils  should  be  able  to  hear 
"beats  or  wavers,"  but  suppose  they  do  not. 
The  teacher  may  say,  "Make  it  sound  smooth." 
If  this  does  not  remedy  the  trouble,  practice 
each  tone  of  the  chord  separately  until  it  is 
perfectly  smooth.  After  each  tone  of  the 
chord  has  been  verified  separately,  combine 
them  one  at  a  time,  being  sure  that  each  added 
tone  does  not  make  the  combination  waver. 
As  soon  as  the  chord  is  steady,  send  the  pupils 
along  by  tapping  twice. 

SLIDING   VOICES 

In  testing  one-part  music  in  the  intermediate 
grades  tell  the  pupils  to  slide  their  voices  up 
or  down  a  very  little  until  the  sound  becomes 
steady.  Do  this  also  when  testing  one  of  the 
parts  in  part  music.  Put  the  parts  together  as 
a  violinist  tunes  his  strings.     Tell  the  pupils 


EAR-TRAINING  129 

to  slide  their  part  up  or  down  a  very  little  until 
the  combination  sounds  smooth. 

Singing  in  perfect  tune  can  be  learned  by 
any  school  if  the  habit  of  smooth  singing  is  first 
established  and  pupils  are  given  practice  in 
smoothing  up  their  chords.  Part  singing  in 
the  upper  grades  can  be  and  should  be  in  as 
perfect  tune  as  a  good  string  quartet. 

Nothing  in  the  whole  range  of  music  is  love- 
lier than  young  voices  singing  suitable  music  in 
perfect  tune.  Tuning  appeals  '  o  young  people. 
They  are  very  quick  to  learn  to  sing  in  per- 
fect tune  if  their  attention  is  called  to  the  beats 
or  wavers  that  arise  from  singing  out  of  tune. 

When  the  teacher  is  testing  chords  for 
smoothness,  let  her  stay  away  from  the  piano. 
The  temptation  will  be  to  step  to  the  piano  and 
sound  the  chord  for  the  school.  If  the  teacher 
does  this,  the  pupils  will  get  a  bad  example. 
A  piano  is  always  out  of  tune  on  the  chords, 
even  when  an  excellent  tuner  has  just  left  it, 
though  the  unisons  and  octaves  are  smooth. 
An  explanation  of  the  reason  for  this  is  too 
long  to  be  put  in  here.     Suffice  to  say,  your 


130    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

pupils  can  sing  in  better  tune  than  the  piano 
can  because  they  can  make  smooth  chords  and 
the  piano  cannot. 

The  following  is  another  ear-training  de- 
vice for  pupils  who  are  singing  part  songs. 
The  teacher  may  call  the  words  or  syllables  of 
the  song  one  by  one  and  the  pupils  may  respond 
by  singing  each  word  or  syllable  called  for. 
They  must  not  let  the  tone  stop  and  must  not 
leave  gaps  between  the  tones.  The  teacher 
should  see  that  each  chord  is  held  until  it  be- 
comes perfectly  steady  before  she  calls  for  the 
next.  Going  through  a  piece  that  is  badly 
sung  in  the  manner  just  described  will  im- 
prove it  wonderfully.  This  exercise,  like  any 
other,  is  only  to  be  used  when  needed.  When 
the  pupils  can  sing  in  tune,  its  usefulness  is 
ended.  It  is  but  a  device  to  establish  the 
tuning  habit  and  when  a  habit  is  established, 
pupils  should  use  the  habit  and  not  the  device. 

REMEMBERING  INTERVALS 

After  learning  to  recognize  unisons,  the  ear 
must  acquire  the  ability  to  remember  intervals. 
Some  ears  will  be  able  to  do  this  at  once  and 


EAR-TRAINING  131 

their  owners  will  sing  a  tune  correctly.  With 
these  we  are  not  concerned  just  now;  our 
work  is  with  those  who  cannot  do  this.  There 
are  no  exercises  to  be  given  to  develop  the 
ability  of  the  ear  to  recognize  intervals  in  tunes, 
other  than  to  let  these  pupils  sing  songs  very 
slowly  in  unison  with  other  voices  at  first,  and 
then  let  them  try  to  sing  the  same  songs  alone. 
If  they  do  not  get  the  tune  straight  when  sing- 
ing alone,  they  should  sing  with  a  good  singer 
until  the  ear  verifies  and  remembers  the  in- 
tervals and  keeps  the  singer  in  the  right  tune- 
track. 

VOICE  QUALITY 

A  singer  may  be  able  to  tell  when  he  is  sing- 
ing in  tune  and  also  how  much  power  he  is 
using,  but  it  is  always  difficult  for  him  to 
judge  the  quality  of  his  own  voice.  He  must 
be  constantly  reminded  to  listen  carefully  to 
the  quality  of  his  tone.  Almost  all  singers  are 
very  sensitive  about  the  quality  of  their 
voices  and  bitterly  resent  criticism.  This 
is  very  foolish  and  teachers  should  be 
very    careful    not    to    allow    pupils    to    grow 


132    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

up  with  such  sensitiveness.  A  singer  needs 
help  on  this  point  more  than  any  other 
because  he  cannot  hear  the  quality  of  his  voice, 
and  must  be  told  again  and  again  if  it  is  bad. 
He  should  be  told  this  plainly  and  kindly  by  the 
teacher,  and  pupils  should  be  taught  to  tell 
each  other  how  their  voices  sound.  The  pupil 
himself  should  be  encouraged  to  ask  how  his 
voice  sounds. 

If  a  voice  does  not  sound  well,  there  are  a 
number  of  things  the  pupil  may  do  to  make  it 
sound  better.  First,  sing  softly;  second,  send 
the  breath  out  more  smoothly;  third,  hold  the 
chin  out  a  little  farther  and  open  the  mouth 
a  trifle  wider.  This  subject  is  fully  explained 
in  the  chapter  on  voice  training. 

HEARING   PARTS 

The  singer  must  learn  to  hear  all  the  parts 
that  are  sounding.  This  can  best  be  learned 
by  tapping  exercises,  already  given,  where  the 
teacher  taps  once  and  the  pupils  hold  a  chord 
in  the  song  they  are  singing.  This  is  a  most 
valuable  kind  of  ear-training  and  a  great  deal 


EAR-TRAINING  133 

of  it  should  be  done  until  the  pupils  are  able 
to  hear  all  the  parts  distinctly. 

Holding  chords  to  allow  the  singers  to  get 
in  tune  and  to  hear  all  the  parts  is  not  only 
a  most  valuable  exercise  for  singers  in  school 
but  also  for  church  choirs  and  all  other  mu- 
sicians doing  concerted  work,  either  vocal  or 
instrumental.  Choruses  and  orchestras  espe- 
cially do  a  great  deal  of  it.  It  is  most  valuable 
for  newly  organized  bands  and  orchestras. 
The  first  thing  the  leader  usually  pays  atten- 
tion to  is  the  time  and  spirit  of  the  piece. 
Intonation  should  receive  the  first  and  the  most 
attention.  Wounds  in  the  intonation  are  usu- 
ally left  to  time  and  chance  to  heal.  It  would 
be  far  better  to  stop  the  players  on  chords  as 
outlined  above  at  the  very  beginning  and  let 
them  learn  early  to  keep  in  tune  with  the  other 
instruments. 

HEARING  RHYTHM 

The  singer  must  also  acquire  the  faculty  of 
hearing  how  fast  or  slow,  how  loud  or  soft  the 
others  are  singing,  and  learn  to  accommodate 


134    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

his  voice  to  the  others  in  both  speed  and  power. 
This  is  very  important  and  should  be  drilled 
upon  from  the  beginning  of  school  music  to 
the  end.  A  good  quartette  choir  learns  to  do 
this  after  singing  together  for  some  time. 
Some  singers  have  this  faculty  naturally  but 
most  of  them  have  to  learn  it.  It  is  a  faculty 
that  children  acquire  very  easily  if  given  the 
chance  to  practice  it  enough. 

The  teacher  should  never  beat  time  when 
her  pupils  are  learning  new  songs  or  singing 
old  songs  in  concert.  If  a  person  cannot  har- 
monize with  other  voices  and  instruments  both 
in  tune  and  time,  he  must  be  given  the  chance 
to  learn.  If  the  teacher  beats  time  in  any  way 
the  pupils  will  follow  her  and  neglect  to  listen 
to  and  neglect  to  hear  the  other  singers  and 
players.  If  the  piano  is  used  a  great  deal  the 
pupil  will  follow  that  and  not  listen  to  the 
others.  He  will  not  sing  in  tune  as  well  with 
the  piano,  as  the  smooth  tone  of  the  voices  will 
be  drowned  in  the  piano's  roar,  as  it  is  often 
played.  Even  when  the  teacher  wants  the 
song  sung  faster,  she  should  not  show  the 
pupils  how  much  faster  nor  should  she  in  any 


EAR-TRAINING  135 

way  set  the  time.  She  should  simply  say 
"faster"  and  let  them  get  it.  This  will  result 
in  pandemonium  at  first  and  the  teacher  will 
be  tempted  to  help.  Help  should  not  be  given 
because  the  pupils  are  simply  trying  to  learn 
to  keep  together  by  ear  and  they  should  be 
allowed  the  chance.  This  is  another  place 
where  the  teacher  should  fold  her  hands  and 
tongue  and  let  the  pupils  work  it  out. 

It  should  not  be  understood  from  the  preced- 
ing paragraph  that  the  piano  should  never  be 
used  in  the  schoolroom.  Far  from  it.  The 
ideal  schoolroom  will  always  have  a  piano  in  it 
and  the  piano  will  be  used  a  great  deal.  It 
should  never  be  used  until  the  pupils  can  sing 
a  song  perfectly  without  it  and  then  it  should 
be  used  as  an  accompaniment  and  not  as  a 
"coverer."  The  piano  covers  a  multitude  of 
vocal  sins,  but  it  sounds  better  with  vocalists 
who  do  not  sin. 

Choruses  of  three  or  four  hundred  should 
learn  to  keep  together  by  ear  and  not  by  eye  at 
first.  When  they  are  getting  ready  for  a  pub- 
lic appearance,  that  is  another  matter,  and  then 
they  should  learn  to  follow  the  baton  so  that 


136    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  expression  desired  by  the  leader  can  be 
brought  out.  When  the  pupils  have  been 
trained  to  listen  to  all  the  parts  at  once  and 
keep  together  by  ear,  it  is  a  simple  matter  to 
train  them  to  follow  the  baton. 

MONOTONES 

There  are  very  few  real  monotones,  but  it 
is  the  term  usually  applied  when  people  sing 
out  of  tune.  The  first  remedy  for  the  mono- 
tone is  to  teach  him  to  cany  a  perfectly 
smooth  tone.  This  will  not  always  cure  him 
but  it  is  effectual  in  most  cases.  To  prevent 
the  monotone  from  spoiling  the  ears  of  other 
pupils,  he  should  be  seated  in  the  front  row 
where  he  cannot  be  heard  by  the  pupils  back 
of  him.  The  foolish  practice  of  making  the 
monotone  keep  still  takes  away  his  only  chance 
of  ever  learning  to  sing  in  tune.  He  must 
learn  to  make  his  own  voice  go  first,  and  how 
can  he  do  this  if  he  keeps  still?  It  is  his  own 
voice,  in  combination  with  other  voices,  that 
he  needs  to  hear ;  no  amount  of  listening  with- 
out singing  is  going  to  help  him.  One  might 
as  well  try  to  teach  a  child  to  walk  by  holding 


EAR-TRAINING  137 

him  in  the  window  to  watch  the  neighbors  go 
by,  as  to  set  a  monotone  to  listening.  Let  the 
monotone  sing  softly  and  smoothly  with  others 
and  he  will  soon  be  able  to  adjust  his  voice  to 
correct  pitch. 

If  a  pupil  has  learned  to  sing  with  a  sus- 
tained tone  and  has  not  learned  to  sing  in  tune, 
a  simple  exercise  like  the  following  will  help 
him  to  hear  and  make  unisons  with  other 
voices.  Let  the  whole  school  sing  a  tone  sev- 
eral steps  higher  than  the  one  the  monotone 
usually  sings.  While  they  are  holding  this 
tone  steadily,  tell  the  monotone  to  slide  his 
voice  up  and  he  will  always  stop  when  he 
reaches  the  pitch  the  others  are  holding.  I 
have  never  seen  this  fail  and  it  is  especially 
effective  with  older  pupils  who  have  never 
studied  music. 

Once  in  a  great  while  a  pupil  will  be  found 
who  cannot  slide  his  voice  at  the  first  attempt. 
He  does  not  know  what  you  mean.  Let  this 
pupil  put  his  hands  on  his  ribs  to  be  sure  that 
he  makes  a  smooth,  long  tone.  Then  let  him 
start  his  tone  and  while  the  other  pupils  sound 
a  higher  one,  let  the  teacher  commence  on  the 


138    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

tone  the  monotone  is  sounding  and  slide  up, 
telling  the  monotone  to  follow  her.  The 
teacher  should  slide  away  above  the  other 
voices,  as  it  is  the  wide  interval  the  child  hears 
first.  The  monotone  will  usually  do  this  after 
one  or  two  trials  and  will  invariably  stop  when 
he  reaches  the  tone  the  other  pupils  are  sound- 
ing. He  has  now  heard  a  unison  and  knows 
how  to  bring  his  voice  into  tune  with  the  other 
voices.  With  a  little  help  now  and  then  he  will 
be  able  to  work  out  his  own  salvation. 

If  following  the  teacher's  voice  does  not 
make  the  pupil  raise  his  voice,  tell  him  to  yell 
at  some  one  in  the  next  room  or  out  in  the  yard 
and  his  voice  will  at  once  run  up  to  a  higher 
pitch.  Let  him  keep  doing  that  until  he  knows 
what  is  meant  by  sliding  up  and  then  let  him 
try  sliding  into  unison  with  the  other  voices. 

Sometimes  it  helps  a  child  who  cannot  raise 
his  voice  to  ask  him  to  "trill"  to  someone  at  a 
distance.  Every  child  will  be  able  to  do  this, 
and  from  this  higher  tone  he  can  work  out  the 
unison  with  other  voices  and  from  the  unison 
the  rest  of  the  tune.  This  work  should  be 
done  after  school,  as  there  is  hardly  time  to  do 


EAR-TRAINING  139 

all  the  individual  work  necessary  to  rescue 
these  unfortunates  in  the  regular  lesson  time. 
Other  pupils  are  glad  to  stay  after  school  to 
help,  if  they  are  asked  in  the  right  way. 

CLEAR  PART-SINGING 

When  pupils  start  part  singing,  there  are 
always  a  few  who  drop  from  the  pitch  and 
have  to  be  tuned  over  again.  This  is  especially 
true  in  beginning  three  and  four-part  work. 
The  altos  will  be  inclined  to  sing  the  soprano 
an  octave  lower,  and  the  basses  will  try  to  do 
the  same  two  octaves  lower.  Here  is  where 
the  teacher's  ear  needs  to  be  trained  as  well  aa 
the  pupil's  and  the  tapping  exercises  will  train 
the  ears  of  all  concerned  and  the  teacher  will 
know,  as  well  as  the  pupils,  when  the  pitch  is 
correct. 

When  seating  the  pupils  in  a  school  where 
singing  bass  has  just  been  begun,  it  is  well  to 
put  the  basses  in  front  of  the  second  altos  so 
that  the  second  alto  boys  will  not  be  so  apt  to 
go  down  and  try  to  sing  bass.  They  will  want 
to  do  it  long  before  it  is  time  and  they  must 
be  watched  or  they  will  be  trying  it  in  the  class. 


140    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

When  requested  to  sing  their  own  part,  they 
will  usually  try  to  convince  you  that  the  part  is 
too  high,  but  "be  from  Missouri"  in  such  cases. 

MOVE    QUIETLY 

Another  very  important  form  of  ear-train- 
ing is  teaching  a  child  to  move  without  noise. 
Children  should  be  taught  early  in  life  that  they 
must  not  annoy  others,  especially  in  the  school- 
room where  everyone  is  trying  to  hear  what 
is  going  on.  Pupils  who  are  allowed  to  go 
"clumping"  around  are  not  only  learning  to  be 
very  selfish,  but  are  destroying  the  efficiency 
of  the  class. 

Young  people  who  annoy  others  carelessly 
should  not  be  excused  but  should  be  taught  that 
carelessness  is  but  a  bad  form  of  selfishness. 
Noisiness  is  particularly  heinous  because  it 
steals  from  others  their  time  and  their  nerves. 
It  is  not  sufficient  to  simply  tell  a  child  to  be 
quiet,  he  must  be  taught  how  to  do  it.  Ear- 
training  on  this  subject  should  commence  in  the 
home,  but  as  it  seldom  does,  the  kindergarten 
and  first  grade  teacher  must  begin  it.     The 


EAR-TRAINING  141 

solution  of  the  noisy  child  problem  is  very 
simple.  He  must  be  taught  to  listen  to  every 
move  he  makes.  As  soon  as  he  does  this,  he 
will  become  expert  in  moving  quietly. 

It  is  foolish  for  a  teacher  to  tell  a  room  full 
of  children  of  any  age  to  "sit  still,"  because  it 
is  impossible  for  them  to  do  it.  So  why 
weaken  your  hold  on  them  by  asking  for  some- 
thing that  cannot  be  done?  There  is  a  much 
better  and  more  sensible  way.  Let  the  teacher 
ask  how  many  can  sit  perfectly  still  for  five 
minutes.  Nearly  every  hand  will  go  up.  The 
teacher  may  say,  "I  am  sure  it  cannot  be  done, 
but  if  you  think  you  are  able  to  do  it,  just  try 
it" 

Of  course,  some  one  will  move  in  a  few  sec- 
onds and  that  will  prove  her  point.  The  effort 
to  sit  perfectly  still  will  be  most  tiring  to  all 
and  the  teacher  may  then  remark,  "Of  course, 
you  cannot  sit  still  five  minutes  and  nobody 
wants  you  to  try,  because  it  is  not  a  good  thing 
to  do." 

Everyone  will  relax  and  the  noise  will  re- 
commence. 


142    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

Now  the  teacher  may  ask,  "Can  you  hear 
well  ?"     Of  course  they  will  say  yes. 

"Now  listen  and  hear  how  many  noises  are 
going  on." 

It  will  become  as  still  as  death  and  the  clock 
will  tick  with  terrific  loudness. 

"That  is  the  way  it  should  be  in  the  school 
room,  so  that  we  can  concentrate  our  minds  on 
our  work.  Now  as  we  cannot  sit  still  and  as 
it  must  be  quiet  so  that  we  can  work,  what  are 
we  going  to  do?" 

The  answer  will  usually  be,  "Keep  as  quiet 
as  we  can." 

"That  will  not  do,  as  we  must  be  perfectly 
quiet."  The  solution  is  simple.  The  teacher 
may  say,  "Just  use  your  ear  every  time  you 
move  and  it  will  be  quiet.  Move  all  you  like, 
provided  no  one  hears  you."  This  will  put 
into  the  pupil's  hand  the  exact  tool  he  needs 
and  then  let  him  work  out  quietness  for  him- 
self. When  a  child  forgets  and  moves  noisily, 
he  may  be  told,  "Return  to  your  seat,  you  have 
left  something  behind  you."  He  will  return, 
look,  and  find  nothing.  He  will  very  likely 
ask  what  it  is  he  has  left  and  the  teacher  may 


EAR-TRAINING  143 

smile  and  point  to  her  ear.  The  joke  will  be 
on  him  and  he  will  appreciate  it  and  listen  the 
next  time. 

Moving  quietly  is  extremely  important  when 
individual  singing  is  going  on.  Pupils  must 
learn  to  rise  and  move  into  their  places  so  as 
not  to  disturb  the  singers.  This  last  form  of 
ear-training  not  only  belongs  in  the  music  les- 
son to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  work  and 
to  make  the  ears  keen,  but  it  will  make  the 
pupil  more  observant  in  every  way.  The  par- 
ent or  teacher  who  neglects  to  give  the  child 
this  ear-training  is  depriving  him  of  one  of  the 
best  forms  of  culture  that  can  be  devised  and 
is  sending  him  out  into  the  world  handicapped 
with  a  pair  of  unobservant  ears,  besides  allow- 
ing him  to  make  a  nuisance  of  himself  in  many 
ways.  Nothing  so  makes  for  selfishness  in 
anyone  as  to  feel  free  to  disturb,  or  worse  ye> 
to  be  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  he  is  disturb- 
ing others. 

Now  please  do  not  gather  from  the  preced- 
ing statements  that  I  am  such  an  old  granny 
that  I  want  children  to  be  like  graven  images 
all  the  time.     Far  from  it.     No  one  appr$« 


144    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ciates  more  than  I  do  the  value  of  noisy  play 
and  freedom  in  activities.  Discrimination  is 
what  the  child  needs  to  learn  and  when  he 
learns  the  proper  way  and  the  proper  places 
to  make  noises,  he  will  be  more  untrammeled 
than  ever  because  he  will  not  disturb  anyone 
and  will  not  have  to  be  "said  don't  at"  as  often 
as  before. 

Such  training  as  outlined  in  the  preceding 
paragraphs  would  be  of  great  value  to  audi- 
ences of  every  kind.  In  any  audience  room 
there  is  always  the  rustle  of  programs  and 
wearing  apparel  and  other  human  sounds  that 
are  wholly  unnecessary.  If  the  people  who 
make  these  sounds  had  been  taught  to  listen, 
not  only  to  the  music,  but  also  had  been  taught 
to  listen  for  and  to  eliminate  other  sounds,  they 
would  enjoy  the  entertainment  far  better — so 
would  their  neighbors.  As  a  step  toward  this, 
the  music  teacher  should  eliminate  every  sound 
except  the  music  from  her  music  lesson.  Even 
the  turning  of  leaves  should  not  be  heard.  If 
the  pupil  makes  a  noise,  there  are  many  things, 
besides  scolding,  the  teacher  can  quietly  do  to 
remind  him  that  he  is  disturbing  others.     The 


EAR-TRAINING  H5 

teacher  may  ask  the  pupil  privately  if  his  ear  is 
a  little  dim.  Always  lay  it  to  dim  hearing. 
That  will  bring  home  to  the  pupil  the  cause 
of  the  trouble  and  will  show  him  just  what 
organ  to  use.  Above  all,  do  not  say  "sit  still" 
to  your  pupils.  It  is  futile  and  every  child 
knows  it  and  he  stamps  you  as  an  unreasonable 
being  the  minute  you  say  "sit  still." 

One  of  the  very  best  ear-training  devices  in 
the  whole  list  is  the  quiet  teacher.  I  have 
heard  many  a  teacher  mourn  over  the  noisy 
pupils  she  was  caged  with  and  every  time 
the  teacher  walked  across  the  room  her  heels 
beat  a  tattoo  on  the  floor  that  would  make  a 
snare  drum  rattle  with  envy.  How  could 
pupils  be  quiet  with  such  an  example  to  en- 
dure? A  fine  ear-trainer  is  a  pair  of  rubber 
heels  on  teacher's  shoes.  (I  am  not  advertis- 
ing any  particular  brand. )  They  will  not  only 
rest  the  teacher  but  will  quiet  the  pupils  won- 
derfully. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THEORY 

The  theory  of  music  is  the  knowledge  a 
person  has  about  its  construction,  notation,  etc. 
Practice  is  what  a  person  can  do  with  music 
either  with  voice  or  instrument. 

Theory  is  sometimes  a  stumbling  block  to 
the  teacher,  and  the  more  he  knows  about  mu- 
sic, the  more  trouble  he  often  has  in  teaching 
it.  The  old  pedagogical  maxim,  "A  child 
learns  to  do  by  doing,"  kept  well  in  mind,  will 
smooth  out  the  wrinkles  in  many  a  course  of 
study. 

A  most  enlightening  parallel  on  this  point 
is  to  be  found  in  the  teaching  of  languages  in 
high  schools.  Instead  of  learning  how  to 
speak  and  write  a  foreign  language,  pupils  in 
the  average  high  school  acquire  only  the  ability 
to  make  vague  and  wavering  translations.  If 
our  teachers  of  modern  languages  would  study 
the  way  a  child  learns  his  mother  tongue  and 
146 


THEORY  147 

use  the  same  method  in  teaching,  the  pupils 
would  get  something  tangible  in  a  fraction  of 
the  time  they  now  spend  getting  practically 
nothing. 

Instead  of  remembering  the  great  peda- 
gogical truth  stated  above,  the  teacher  of  mod- 
ern languages  often  commences  the  study  in 
the  wrong  way  by  smothering  the  pupil  with 
a  mass  of  knowledge  about  the  language  so 
that  instead  of  being  able  to  use  the  language 
in  a  natural  way,  he  has  to  spend  his  time 
mulling  over  a  mass  of  mental  rubbish. 

This  same  trouble  often  befalls  the  music 
pupil  for  the  same  reason.  There  are  number- 
less facts  he  might  know  about  music  if  there 
were  time  to  teach  them;  but  comparatively 
few  of  these  facts  are  needed  to  enable  him 
to  read  and  interpret  vocal  music  intelli- 
gently. 

Let  us  see  how  much  theory  a  child  in  the 
grades  needs  to  know  and,  in  the  light  of  the 
pedagogical  rule  above  stated,  decide  the  order 
of  presentation  to  be  observed. 

Since  we  use  only  rote  songs  in  the  first 
grade,  there  is  no  theory  to  teach  in  that  grade. 


148    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

Many  attempt  to  teach  phrases,  measures,  ac- 
cents, rhythm,  and  other  things  in  the  first 
grade  that  are  not  needed.  "Children  learn 
to  do  by  doing,"  but  it  is  the  teacher's  business 
to  see  that  they  do  the  right  thing  at  the  right 
time. 

Children  should  commence  to  learn  to  read 
music  in  the  second  grade  and  the  first  printed 
page  of  music  presented  should  be  a  pattern 
song  of  simple  structure,  very  plainly  printed, 
with  each  phrase  on  a  line  by  itself.  There 
should  be  no  divided  beats  and  the  notes  should 
be  large  and  plain.  The  song  should  be  slow 
with  simple  rhythm  and  easy  intervals.  The 
children  should  already  know  this  song  from 
memory  and  be  able  to  sing  it  correctly  with 
proper  phrasing  and  a  smooth,  pleasant  tone. 
The  teacher  should  first  show  the  pupils  how 
to  point  to  the  notes  as  they  sing  the  pattern 
song.  As  each  phrase  is  on  a  line  by  itself, 
this  process  will  be  easy  and  the  children  will 
soon  learn  that  each  note  stands  for  a  sepa- 
rate tone  of  the  song  and  that  the  proper  place 
to  breathe  is  at  the  end  of  each  line  or  phrase. 


THEORY  149 

Measure  and  accent  do  not  require  attention  at 
this  stage. 

The  pupil  learns  the  value  of  the  notes  and 
rests  by  experience  in  singing  the  pattern  songs. 
Here  we  encounter  one  of  the  worst  incon- 
sistencies in  music  notation.  Instead  of  a 
standard  one-beat  note,  we  have  several. 
How  fine  and  how  simple  it  would  be  to  have 
the  quarter  note  the  only  one-beat  note  used. 
It  would  make  the  path  of  the  young  music 
student  far  easier,  as  there  would  be  no  need 
of  the  mystifying  fraction  at  the  beginning 
of  the  piece.  Only  one  figure  would  be 
needed  to  tell  how  many  beats  in  a  measure. 
But  as  measure  is  not  to  be  taught  at  the  be- 
ginning, it  is  only  necessary  to  tell  the  child 
that  when  the  lower  figure  is  four,  the  quarter 
note  gets  a  beat  and  when  it  is  eight,  an  eighth 
note  gets  a  beat,  etc.  Later  he  can  learn  what 
the  upper  figure  means.  At  present  he  should 
be  taught  only  the  note  values;  and  let  meas- 
ure and  accent  teach  themselves. 

The  children  will  learn  the  lines  and  spaces 
of  the  staff  by  using  them   in   singing  the 


150    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

pattern  songs  by  note  and  by  singing  new 
songs  by  note.  In  designating  the  lines  and 
spaces  of  the  staff,  they  should  be  numbered 
from  the  bottom. 

The  pupils  will  learn  the  syllable  names  of 
the  notes  as  they  go  along  and  they  will  soon 
begin  to  discover  scale  relations  in  the  songs. 
No  time  should  be  spent  in  teaching  intervals 
as  such.  The  child's  mind  becomes  adjusted 
to  the  tones  of  the  scale  naturally  and  the 
sounds  soon  become  fixed  in  his  memory. 
This  is  one  of  the  places  where  pupils  and 
teachers  have  wasted  much  time  by  not  apply- 
ing the  great  maxim  that  underlies  all  ped- 
agogy. Instead  of  allowing  the  child  to  learn 
the  intervals  by  using  them  in  reading  both  old 
and  new  songs,  teachers  are  very  apt  to  spend 
time  in  drilling  on  intervals  apart  from  the 
song. 

Teaching  the  treble  clef  is  of  no  importance 
until  the  base  clef  is  introduced,  which  is  usu- 
ally in  the  eighth  grade.  Then  the  pupils  may 
learn  both  the  bass  and  treble  in  order  to  tell 
which  one  they  are  singing  from. 

The  signature  may  be  used  simply  to  teach 


THEORY  151 

the  position  of  "do."  Teach  the  pupil  that 
when  there  are  no  sharps  or  flats,  "do"  is  on 
the  line  below.  The  right  hand  sharp  is  "ti" 
and  the  right  hand  flat  is  "fa."  When  he 
begins  to  write  music,  he  may  learn  the  posi- 
tion of  the  sharps  and  flats  by  copying  them 
from  the  board  or  book. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  third  grade  or  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth,  the  divided  beat  is 
taught.  It  is  well,  though  not  positively  neces- 
sary, to  teach  the  measure  at  this  time.  To 
do  this  requires  the  teaching  of  bars  and 
double  bars. 

Chromatics  are  often  found  in  third  grade 
music 

CHROMATICS 

If  chromatics  are  introduced  as  they  should 
be  in  the  books,  they  will  be  learned  by  sing- 
ing them  in  songs,  the  same  as  the  tones  of 
the  common  scale  were  learned.  The  first 
few  chromatics  that  appear  should  be  sung  by 
f.he  teacher  and  the  school  should  learn  them 
by  ear.  The  same  ones  should  then  be  used 
in  various  songs  in  different  keys.     Give  the 


152    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

pupils  the  following  rule:  First  think  what 
the  note  would  be  without  the  chromatic,  and 
remember  that  a  sharp  before  a  note  means  a 
half  step  up,  and  the  vowel  of  the  syllable 
name  is  changed  to  e.  A  flat  before  a  note 
means  a  half  step  down  and  the  vowel  is 
changed  to  a.  A  natural  before  a  note  al- 
ready flatted  is  the  same  as  a  sharp  and  a 
natural  before  a  note  already  sharped  is  the 
same  as  a  flat. 

The  following  diagrams  should  be  put  on 
the  board  when  teaching  this  rule: 


b 


\ 


Mf«l> 


The  double  sharp  and  the  double  flat  follow 
the  rule  for  a  sharp  and  a  flat  respectively. 


THEORY  153 

Chromatics  are  easily  learned  in  this  way.  On 
no  account  have  the  pupils  attempt  the  hope- 
less task  of  writing  the  chromatic  scales  in 
the  different  keys. 

The  plan  of  going  to  some  other  key  to 
teach  chromatics  is  foolish.  For  instance, 
many  teachers  teach  "sol,  fi,  sol"  by  calling  it 
"do,  ti,  do"  first.  This  is  not  only  a  waste  of 
time  but  it  teaches  the  wrong  thing,  as  it 
makes  the  pupil  think  of  another  key  when 
he  should  be  thinking  of  an  accidental  in  the 
same  key.  The  best  way  to  teach  a  chromatic 
tone  is  to  sing  it  to  him  until  he  knows  it. 

Never,  under  any  circumstances,  teach  the 
chromatic  scale  as  a  whole.  It  is  never  used. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  minor  scales. 
When  a  song  in  a  minor  key  has  been  learned, 
the  teacher  may  simply  call  attention  to  the 
sound  of  it,  and  if  she  wishes,  she  may  ex- 
plain to  the  class  how  to  tell  whether  it  is  a 
minor  or  not.  If  it  is  a  minor,  it  often  begins 
and  always  ends  on  "la." 

If  the  pupil  can  read  in  the  major  keys  and 
recognizes  chromatics  as  they  occur,  he  will 
have    no    trouble    with    minors.     There    are 


154    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

teachers  who  say  we  must  teach  minor  songs 
by  calling  the  first  tone  of  the  minor  scale 
"do"  instead  of  "la,"  but  how  anyone  in  his 
senses  can  stand  for  such  an  unnecessary  bur- 
den of  foolish  work  is  beyond  comprehension, 
unless  he  wants  to  make  it  hard  instead  of 
easy  and  to  keep  the  child  from  learning  to 
read  music  as  long  as  possible.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  "fixed  do"  method. 

Some  systems  of  reading  music  compel  the 
child  to  figure  out  whether  it  is  a  minor  third 
or  a  major  third  before  singing  it.  It  does  not 
seem  possible  that  such  back-handed  work 
could  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world,  but 
veracious  returned  travelers  assure  us  that  it  is 
attempted  in  some  remote  centers  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

What  is  the  use  of  teaching  chords  to  chil- 
dren who  are  reading  one-part  music?  It 
might  be  well  to  do  a  little  of  it  when  they  begin 
to  sing  three-part  music,  for  then  they  have  a 
chance  to  hear  chords.  The  study  of  musical 
facts  not  necessary  to  the  work  in  hand  is  a 
hindrance  rather  than  a  help.  It  might  be 
well  to  know  the  chemical  ingredients  of  the 


THEORY  155 

food  we  eat,  but  certainly  the  average  child 
will  flourish  quite  well  even  if  he  does  not 
know  that  his  food  contains  proteids,  starches, 
and  other  things.  His  digestive  apparatus  will 
find  that  out  without  burdening  his  brain  with 
useless  information.  We  are  altogether  too 
apt  to  stuff  a  child's  head  with  unrelated  facts 
and  then  wonder  why  his  brain  does  not  func- 
tion better.  It  is  a  mercy  that  he  has  the 
faculty  of  forgetting  some  of  the  things  he 
has  learned. 

When  teaching  theory  be  careful  to  follow 
the  rule  that  heads  this  chapter  and  see  that 
every  item  of  theory  you  teach  is  necessary 
and  that  the  children  themselves  see  the  neces- 
sity for  it 


CHAPTER  X 

VOICE     TESTING 

Voice  testing  is  one  of  the  most  difficult,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  most  important  subjects 
that  confront  the  music  supervisor.  It  takes 
time  and  experience  to  do  it  well  and  even 
when  it  is  well  done,  it  never  "stays  put." 
Like  tuning  the  piano,  it  has  to  be  done  over 
and  over  again.  It  is  so  big  a  task  and  re- 
quires so  much  time  that  it  is  often  left  to 
the  pupils  themselves,  with  disastrous  results. 
Another  reason  why  it  is  not  well  done  is  the 
fact  that  many  supervisors  of  music  are  not 
well  prepared  for  this  part  of  their  work.  It 
is  little  short  of  criminal  for  a  supervisor  of 
music  to  take  charge  of  a  system  of  schools 
unless  he  knows  how  to  test  voices. 

REASONS 

If  the  voices  are  tested  often  and  each  voice 
is  assigned  to  the  proper  part  and  not  forced, 
156 


VOICE  TESTING  157 

they  will  develop  naturally  and  satisfactorily. 
Each  voice  should  be  watched  especially  dur- 
ing the  changing  period,  for  the  same  voice 
will  often  cover  the  range  of  all  the  different 
parts  before  settling  on  the  part  for  which 
nature  designed  it.  The  supervisor  and 
teacher  must  exercise  eternal  vigilance  and 
move  the  voice  when  nature  says  it  should  be 
done.  Voices  should  be  tested  also  for  mu- 
sical effect  in  ensemble  singing.  We  are  teach- 
ing music  and  if  the  voices  of  the  children  are 
not  on  the  proper  parts,  there  will  be  no  music. 
There  is  nothing  lovelier  in  music  than  a  chorus 
of  young  voices,  singing  beautiful  and  appro- 
priate songs  when  each  voice  is  on  the  right 
part,  singing  easily,  pleasantly,  and  in  tune. 
There  is  nothing  so  unmusical  as  a  chorus  with 
a  number  of  voices  on  the  wrong  part.  When 
a  voice  is  on  the  wrong  part,  there  is  little  use 
in  trying  to  get  its  possessor  to  sing  in  tune. 
It  cannot  be  done,  for  a  strained  voice  is  seldom 
able  to  keep  the  pitch  for  any  length  of  time. 
Even  if  the  pupil  does  succeed  in  keeping  the 
pitch,  the  part  he  is  singing  will  not  sound 
right  because  it  will  have  the  wrong  quality. 


158    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

WHEN  TO  TEST  VOICES 

Voices  should  be  tested  for  part  singing 
as  soon  as  they  show  signs  of  changing.  This 
usually  occurs  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
grade.  In  the  two  preceding  grades,  where 
two-part  music  is  sung,  the  pupils  should  al- 
ternate. In  the  fifth  grade,  the  low  voices 
should  be  put  in  the  middle  of  the  room  and 
be  required  to  sing  alto  with  the  side  of  the 
room  which  is  singing  the  alto  part.  In  the 
sixth  grade  much  three-part  music  should  be 
used.  The  voices  begin  to  change  here,  and 
during  the  changing  period  it  is  particularly 
important,  for  musical  and  for  educational 
reasons,  as  well  as  for  vocal  reasons,  that  the 
voices  sing  in  a  limited  compass.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  sixth  grade  to  the  end  of  the 
senior  year  in  the  high  school,  each  voice 
should  be  tested  often.  The  voices  are  con- 
stantly changing  and  each  pupil  should  be  in- 
structed to  ask  for  a  test  whenever  he  feels 
that  the  part  he  is  singing  is  getting  hard  for 
him.     In  the  individual  work  the  voices  can  be 


VOICE  TESTING  159 

watched  easily  and  tests  given  when  the  need 
is  indicated. 

STAY  ON   SAME  PART 

The  question  often  arises  whether  it  is  best 
to  place  a  young  voice  on  a  certain  part  and 
keep  it  there  until  it  changes.  The  answer 
is  "yes"  for  the  following  reasons.  The  voice, 
during  the  changing  period,  usually  has  a  short 
compass.  By  this  is  meant  that,  though  the 
pupil  may  be  able  to  sing  both  high  and  low, 
the  easy  compass  of  his  voice  is  usually  pretty 
short,  and  to  develop  the  voice  properly  he 
should  use  only  the  easy  compass.  Many  con- 
tend that  the  voice  will  develop  better  if  a 
wide  compass  is  used,  but  my  experience  has 
been  to  the  contrary.  I  have  always  kept  a 
voice,  from  the  sixth  grade  through  the  high 
school,  rigidly  to  one  part  until  a  test  showed 
that  another  part  should  be  taken.  Long  ex- 
perience has  convinced  me  that  the  voice  that 
sings  lightly  and  easily,  in  a  limited  compass 
during  the  changing  period,  will  have  a  wider 
compass,  more  power,  and  a  better  quality  in 


160    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  end  than  the  voice  that  has  tried  to  culti- 
vate a  wider  compass  during  the  same  period. 
If  there  were  no  other  reason  than  voice  pres- 
ervation, the  limited  compass  of  the  changing 
voice  makes  part  singing  in  the  upper  grades 
and  the  high  school  a  necessity. 

Whenever  the  bass  part  is  represented,  four- 
part  music  for  mixed  voices  is  required  in  or- 
der to  furnish  an  easy  compass  for  all  the 
voices.  Three-part  music,  arranged  for 
soprano,  alto,  and  bass,  should  never  be  used 
in  the  grades  mentioned,  because  it  does  not 
accommodate  all  the  voices. 

SYSTEM 

Testing  voices,  like  everything  else,  should 
follow  the  best  system  that  can  be  devised  for 
doing  it  quickly  and  effectively.  The  same 
plan  should  be  followed  in  every  grade  and  in 
the  high  school.  Each  pupil  should  be  taught 
to  do  the  same  exercise  as  rapidly  and  as 
loudly  as  he  can  and  keep  at  it  until  he  is  told 
what  part  he  is  to  sing.  Two  should  stand  at 
once  and  as  soon  as  one  is  tested,  the  next 
should   start   instantly  and   sing  his   exercise 


VOICE  TESTING  161 

without  being  told.  The  rest  of  the  class  must 
watch  the  singing  pupil  and  see  that  he  starts 
on  the  right  key.  The  pupil  must  try  first  and 
if  he  does  not  start  on  the  right  pitch,  the  class 
must  give  it.  If  the  class  has  forgotten  it,  the 
teacher  will  give  it  from  the  pitch  pipe.  The 
exercise  must  be  kept  going  at  high  speed  and 
no  pupil  should  be  allowed  to  stop  to  make 
excuses. 

The  best  exercise  for  testing  voices  I  have 
ever  tried  is  the  following:  Let  each  pupil 
begin  on  G,  the  second  line  of  the  treble  staff 
(if  a  changed  boy  voice,  an  octave  below),  and 
sing  the  scale  up  through  one  octave  and  then 
down  two  octaves,  returning  over  the  same 
ground  and  going  up  and  down  until  told  to 
stop.  The  boys  should  start  this  exercise  in 
the  opposite  direction  because  the  boy  voice 
often  shows  during  the  first  octave  what  it  is 
and  it  saves  time  to  let  the  boys  start  down- 
ward. 

The  pupils  should  all  be  required  to  go 
through  this  exercise  to  the  full  extent,  even  if 
they  cannot  reach  the  extreme  tones  easily. 
Pupils  often  stop  and  declare  they  can  go  no 


162    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

farther  long  before  the  limit  of  vocal  compass 
is  reached.  So  it  is  well  to  insist  upon  the 
limit  of  "G"  at  each  end.  Tell  the  pupil 
plainly  that  it  is  the  bad  spots  of  the  voice 
that  you  are  looking  for  this  time,  and  that  he 
must  show  all  the  voice  he  has.  This  explana- 
tion will  remove  the  timidity  that  every  one 
has  when  he  shows  the  poor  and  hard  parts  of 
his  voice. 

CLASSIFICATION    OF    VOICES 

The  unchanged  boy  voices  and  the  girl  voices 
in  the  grades  should  be  divided  into  four  parts ; 
first  and  second  soprano,  and  first  and  second 
alto.  The  changed  boy  voices  will  almost  al- 
ways sing  bass  in  the  grades.  Few,  if  any, 
tenors  are  found  below  the  high  school. 

Voices  in  the  high  school  should  be  divided 
into  eight  parts :  first  and  second  soprano,  first 
and  second  alto,  first  and  second  tenor,  first 
and  second  bass.  The  first  tenor  is  a  rare 
voice,  even  in  the  high  school.  The  teacher 
can  determine  how  good  the  work  has  been 
in  the  grades  by  the  number  of  high  sopranos 


VOICE  TESTING  163 

and  tenors  that  develop  in  the  high  school.  If 
there  are  a  number  of  high,  easy  voices  in  the 
high  school,  the  work  in  the  grades  has  been 
good.  These  are  the  two  voices  that  are  most 
apt  to  be  spoiled  in  the  making. 

A  quick  and  effective  way  to  tell  the  pupil 
what  part  to  sing  is  to  hold  the  fingers  up 
when  you  have  determined  what  the  voice  is. 
Use  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand  for  the  girls 
and  unchanged  boy  voices.  First  soprano, 
one  finger;  second  soprano,  two;  first  alto, 
three;  and  second  alto,  four.  Take  the  right 
hand  for  the  changed  boy  voices.  First  tenor, 
one  finger ;  second  tenor,  two ;  first  bass,  three ; 
and  second  bass,  four.  This  is  merely  a  little 
trick  to  save  time  and  the  teacher's  voice.  If 
you  say  what  part  the  pupil  is  to  sing  you 
will  have  to  wait  until  he  stops  singing  or  he 
will  have  trouble  in  hearing  you.  If  you  tell 
him  on  your  fingers,  he  will  know  instantly. 
The  attention  he  must  give  to  these  signals 
will  make  him  less  self-conscious  while  sing- 
ing and  his  voice  will  be  more  free.  No  mat- 
ter how  many  times  the  voices  are  tested  or 


164    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

how  much  individual  work  has  been  done,  there 
is  always  a  little  timidity  about  exhibiting  the 
bad  spots  of  the  voice. 

CHOIR    BOYS    AND   VOICE    PUPILS 

It  is  well  to  tell  the  pupils  who  are  singing 
in  a  boy  choir  to  sing  whatever  part  the  choir 
leader  wishes  them  to  sing.  Even  if  the  super- 
visor does  not  agree  with  the  choir  leader,  it 
is  well  to  defer  to  his  judgment  and  avoid  fric- 
tion. It  is  the  same  with  voice  pupils.  The 
voice  teacher  should  have  the  freedom  to  say 
whether  the  pupil  should  sing  in  school  or  not 
and  what  part  he  should  sing.  This  is  only 
giving  these  people  a  fair  chance.  If  your 
views  do  not  agree  with  theirs,  talk  it  over 
with  them.  Even  musicians  are  reasonable 
beings  and  it  is  a  good  idea  for  the  supervisor 
of  music  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the  pri- 
vate musicians  of  his  community.  Their  sup- 
port is  a  fine  thing  to  have. 

In  testing  voices,  remember  that  it  is  the 
quality  and  not  the  compass  that  decides  what 
the  voice  is. 


VOICE  TESTING  165 

SOPRANO 

The  soprano  voice  varies  in  power,  heavi- 
ness, or  thickness  of  quality  from  the  little  girl 
in  the  sixth  grade  to  the  young  lady  senior 
of  the  high  school.  Sopranos  in  the  grades 
will  have  a  much  lighter,  thinner  tone  than 
sopranos  in  the  high  school,  though  the  range 
is  about  the  same.  A  quality  of  voice  that 
sounds  like  a  soprano  in  the  high  school  would 
be  almost  an  alto  in  the  sixth  grade.  The  one 
who  is  testing  voices  must  keep  in  mind  the 
age  and  apparent  physical  development  of  the 
pupil. 

The  soprano  voice  is  usually  light  and  clear 
and  ranges  from  middle  "C"  to  "A"  above  the 
staff.  As  the  soprano  sings  the  two-octave 
scale  called  for  in  the  voice  testing  exercise, 
the  high  tones  will  be  clear  and  brilliant  and 
the  low  ones  thin  and  breathy,  though  most 
sopranos  will  be  able  to  make  a  light  tone  on 
the  low  "G."  The  quality  of  the  soprano  voice 
is  much  like  the  thin,  high  quality  of  the  child 
voice  at  the  age  of  ten,  though  there  are  many 


166    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

varieties  of  soprano  quality.  In  testing  a 
voice  first  determine  whether  it  is  soprano  or 
alto  in  quality.  The  alto  quality  is  deep,  rich, 
and  somber.  It  is  more  like  the  voice  quality 
of  a  grown  woman.  When  you  have  decided 
that  the  voice  is  soprano  in  quality,  then  de- 
termine its  easy  compass  and  class  it  either  as 
a  first  or  a  second  soprano.  If  the  voice  runs 
up  to  high  "G"  and  there  is  no  sound  of  "pinch- 
ing" on  the  upper  tone  and  if  there  is  a  change 
of  quality  about  "D"  or  "E"  on  the  f  jurth  line 
or  fourth  space  (which  means  that  the  break 
between  the  middle  and  upper  registers  comes 
in  the  right  place),  that  voice  can  safely  sing 
the  first  soprano.  If  there  are  any  constricted 
muscles  under  the  chin  or  in  the  neck  while 
singing,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  the  voice  should 
not  sing  so  high.  Put  all  the  sopranos  thct 
cannot  pass  these  tests  on  the  second  soprano. 
The  second  soprano  is  safe  for  any  soprano 
voice,  c.s  it  has  an  easy  range  that  will  harm 
no  voice  if  the  pupil  does  not  sing  too  loudly. 
A  first  soprano  can  sing  up  to  G  (space 
above)  and  down  to  C  (line  below)  safely  if 
she   does   not   sing   too   loudly.     The   second 


VOICE  TESTING  167 

sopranos  must  stay  between  C   (line  below) 
and  E  (fourth  space). 

Test  th^  alto  voice  in  the  same  way  the 
soprano  voice  is  tested.  (The  alto  quality  is 
more  easily  recognized  when  contrasted  with 
the  soprano.)  If  it  is  determined  that  the 
quality  is  alto,  then  class  it  either  as  first  or 
second  alto.  If  the  voice  broadens  as  it  de- 
scends the  scale  and  can  give  a  full  easy  tone 
on  G  (third  space  below),  it  is  a  second  alto. 
Any  alto  voice  that  cannot  do  this  should  be 
placed  on  the  first  alto.  If  the  supervisor  is 
careful  to  put  all  the  doubtful  soprano  voices 
on  the  second  soprano  part  and  all  the  doubtful 
alto  voices  on  the  first  alto  and  is  sparing  of 
the  number  he  places  on  the  first  soprano  and 
second  alto,  he  cannot  go  far  wrong  in  his 
classification. 

REGISTERS 

As  the  voice  descends  the  scale  from  G  (sec- 
ond line),  a  change  will  be  noticed  at  D  (space 
below)  or  C  (line  below).  These  lower  tones 
constitute  the  chest  register.  The  pupils 
should  be  cautioned  not  to  carry  the  chest  regis- 


168    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ter  higher  than  C  (line  below).  If  they  sing 
softly  and  easily,  the  chest  register  will  take 
care  of  itself.  If  they  sing  loudly,  the  chest 
tone  will  go  too  high,  and  there  is  no  vocal 
sin  that  has  quite  the  serious  consequences  of 
an  over-developed  chest  register.  A  peculiarly 
vicious  "blat"  is  the  result. 

There  are  many  little  pitfalls  into  which  the 
supervisor  may  fall  in  testing  voices,  which 
experience  will  remedy.  An  alto  will  some- 
times be  found  to  have  better  high  tones  than 
many  of  the  sopranos,  but  if  the  quality  is  alto, 
the  voice  should  be  placed  on  one  of  the  alto 
parts.  Quality  first  is  always  the  test.  The 
dramatic  soprano  voice  may  sound  like  an  alto, 
but  it  is  a  rare  voice  among  school  pupils  and 
it  will  come  to  no  harm  on  one  of  the  middle- 
parts. 

In  testing  a  girl's  voice,  one  need  not  be  sur- 
prised at  anything  it  does.  The  boy  voice  is 
sure  to  go  down,  but  you  cannot  foretell  with 
any  certainty  what  the  girl  voice  is  going  to 
do.  It  is  just  like  herself.  The  girl  voice  may 
change  over  night  from  a  thin,  wiry  soprano  to 


VOICE  TESTING  169 

a  big,  heavy  alto.  The  deep  tones  may  stay 
with  her  the  rest  of  her  life  or  they  may  be 
gone  in  a  week.  The  girl  voice  is  more  difficult 
to  classify  than  the  boy  voice  and  therefore 
must  be  watched  closely. 

THE   BOY  VOICE 

Before  changing,  the  boy  voice  comes  under 
the  same  rules  as  the  girl  voice  and  should  be 
tested  in  the  same  way.  Most  unchanged  boy 
voices  show  exactly  what  they  are,  but  some 
are  deceptive.  Immediately  previous  to  the 
change,  the  boy  voice  sometimes  has  a  very 
large  upper  tone  that  seems  to  be  free  and 
easy.  If  these  large,  free  upper  tones  ere  ac- 
companied by  large,  free  lower  tones,  as  they 
almost  always  are,  never  let  the  boy  sing 
soprano.  This  voice  is  going  down  and  it  is 
well  to  let  it  sing  low  rather  than  high.  It  is 
here  that  choir  leaders  spoil  many  voices. 
They  often  allow  the  boy  to  sing  soprano  long 
after  his  voice  begins  to  change.  It  is  during 
this  time  that  the  boy  is  most  useful  both  on 
account  of  the  power  of  his  voice  and  the  train- 


170    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ing  he  has  received,  and  it  is  a  great  tempta- 
tion to  the  choir  master  to  keep  him  on  the 
soprano  part  far  too  long. 

All  teachers  who  work  with  boys'  voices 
should  realize  the  fact  that  when  a  boy's  voice 
begins  to  thicken,  it  means  that  his  larynx  is 
growing  and  his  voice  will  descend  an  octave, 
more  or  less,  during  the  changing  period.  If 
the  boy  sings  lower  and  lower  as  his  voice 
changes,  his  voice  will  never  "break"  but  will 
gradually  deepen  and  will  sound  well  and  be 
useful  all  the  time,  if  he  sings  in  a  light  and 
sensible  way.  The  reason  a  boy  has  trouble 
with  his  voice  when  it  is  changing  is  because 
he  has  overworked  it.  There  is  a  brilliance 
in  the  boy  voice  just  as  it  begins  to  change  that 
is  sometimes  very  attractive.  He  likes  to  use 
it  and  his  parents,  his  teacher,  and  his  choir 
leader  also  like  to  have  him  use  it.  A  voice 
that  has  been  used  too  long  and  too  hard  as  a 
boy  soprano  seldom  amounts  to  much  after- 
ward. There  are  a  few  exceptions.  I  am 
heartily  in  favor  of  the  boy  choir.  It  is  good 
for  the  boy.  I  keep  the  choirs  of  my  city  as 
full  as  I  can,  for  it  is  the  best  kind  of  training 


VOICE  TESTING  171 

for  the  boy  both  musically  and  morally,  to  be 
in  a  good  choir.  I  am  not  in  favor,  however, 
of  letting  the  boys  sing  soprano  as  long  as  most 
leaders  think  it  wise. 

If  the  boy  voice  breaks,  it  means  that  his 
training  has  been  faulty  in  some  way.  Instead 
of  mourning  when  a  boy  has  to  leave  the  choir, 
the  wise  choir  leader  lets  him  stop  singing 
soprano  a  little  earlier  and  puts  him  on  the  alto 
part.  The  alto  part  in  the  average  boy  choir 
is  painfully  weak  and  thin.  These  ex-sopranos 
make  excellent  altos  for  a  while,  because  they 
have  all  the  training  of  their  soprano  days. 
A  little  later,  when  their  voices  are  somewhat 
lower,  they  can  help  out  the  tenor.  Some  of 
them  will  stay  there  and  be  tenors  for  the  rest 
of  their  lives.  The  same  road  will  lead  the 
majority  of  the  boys  to  the  bass. 

I  was  much  amused  a  number  of  years  ago 
at  a  choir  leader  who  came  to  me  in  great  ex- 
citement, saying  he  had  a  boy  in  his  choir 
whose  voice  had  never  "broken."  This  voice 
had  simply  rilled  up  and  become  a  tenor  after 
the  boy  had  been  singing  alto  for  some  time. 
This  choir  leader  never  knew  the  full  historv 


172    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

of  that  particular  boy,  as  I  had  told  the  urchin 
privately  to  insist  upon  singing  alto  instead  of 
soprano  when  he  was  twelve  years  old.  He 
had  been  a  fine  soprano  and  the  leader  hated 
to  lose  him,  but  the  boy  insisted  and  sang  alto 
just  as  he  did  in  school.  When  I  gave  the 
word,  the  boy  asked  to  sing  tenor  in  the  choir 
and,  lo  and  behold,  there  he  remained  and  his 
voice  was  beautiful  and  had  shown  no  signs 
of  breaking.  I  told  the  leader  to  come  down 
to  the  high  school  and  he  would  see  a  dozen 
boys  who  had  passed  through  a  similar  ex- 
perience. He  had  never  treated  a  voice  in  that 
way  before  and  so  he  had  never  seen  nature 
do  her  perfect  work. 

The  boy  may  just  as  well  stay  in  the  choir 
from  the  age  of  eight  to  eighty  as  to  be  trained 
for  a  few  years  and  then  be  cast  out.  Telling 
a  boy  to  stop  singing  while  his  voice  changes, 
is  a  good  deal  like  telling  him  to  stop  all  ex- 
ercise while  he  is  growing  up.  If  there  is  need 
of  his  stopping,  it  will  be  due  to  careless  train- 
ing and,  of  course,  that  is  the  fault  of  his 
teacher.  The  universal  desire  of  the  boy  to 
sing  bass  is  but  an  instinctive  knowledge  of 


VOICE  TESTING  173 

what  is  good  for  him.  Every  normal  boy 
hates  to  sing  high  after  he  is  twelve.  He 
would  far  rather  sing  bass  or  as  near  to  it  as 
he  can.  This  desire  is  on  account  of  the 
natural  longing  to  be  a  man  as  soon  as  possible 
and  also  because  of  the  natural  trend  of  the 
voice.  Boys  should  be  warned  against  yelling 
during  voice  mutation.  It  will  do  little  good, 
of  course,  but  may  deter  some  of  the  more  mu- 
sical ones  and  these  are  the  ones  that  are  most 
worth  saving. 

Every  supervisor  of  music  and  every  choir 
leader  should  read  a  little  book  called,  "The 
Voice  of  the  Boy,"  by  John  J.  Dawson.*  Fol- 
low the  principles  laid  down  in  this  book,  but 
do  not  do  the  exercises  called  for,  as  they  are 
unnecessary. 

CHANGED    VOICES 

In  the  three  upper  grades  and  in  the  high 
school,  the  boys  will  be  found  in  all  stages  of 
development.  In  testing  changed  boy  voices, 
start  the  pupils  at  G  (fourth  space,  bass  staff) 


*  Published  by  A.  S.  Barnes  Company,  New  York. 


174    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

and  let  them  sing  down  and  up  through  the 
two  octaves  as  already  explained.  Insist  that 
they  attempt  the  whole  range  of  the  two  oc- 
taves, for  boys  should  learn  to  sing  through 
the  break  into  the  falsetto  or  the  mixed 
register,  as  the  case  may  be.  This  means  that 
the  older  boys  should  be  taught  to  keep  the 
remains  of  the  lower  tones  in  the  alto  voice  as 
long  as  possible,  as  this  is  the  foundation  of 
the  higher  tones  in  the  man's  voice.  It  is  not 
well  to  use  the  higher  tones  very  much  until 
they  are  well  developed  and  can  be  produced 
correctly.  The  change  from  one  register  to 
another  should  occur  as  low  as  possible. 

In  classifying  the  changed  boy  voices,  fol- 
low the  rule  of  "quality  first  and  then  com- 
pass." Decide  first  whether  a  voice  is  a  tenor 
or  bass  and  then  classify  as  first  or  second. 

TENOR   VOICE 

The  tenor  voice  is  recognized  by  its  light 
quality.  The  lower  tones  are  sometimes  thin 
and  weak.  Voice  quality  is  very  hard  to  de- 
scribe on  paper  and  the  best  way  to  train  your 


VOICE  TESTING  175 

ear  for  this  is  to  listen  to  well-known  local 
tenors  and  get  their  voice  quality  in  mind  and 
then,  allowing  for  differences  in  age,  test  your 
pupils'  voices  accordingly.  The  tenor  voice 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes  as  to  compass. 
The  first  tenor  should  be  able  to  sing  the  high 
G  with  a  clear,  easy  tone,  without  any  constric- 
tion of  the  throat  muscles  and  with  well  defined 
change  in  the  voice  quality  at  about  D  (sec- 
ond space  above).  The  others,  of  course,  are 
second  tenors. 

BASS  VOICE 

The  bass  voice  is  recognized  by  its  thick, 
heavy  quality,  especially  in  the  lower  tones. 
The  bass  voices  may  be  divided  into  first  and 
second  bass.  The  second  bass  should  be  able 
to  sing  a  good  low  G  (first  line).  The  others 
should  be  placed  on  the  first  or  higher  bass. 
It  is  well  to  be  conservative  in  the  number  of 
pupils  placed  on  the  first  tenor  and  the  second 
bass,  as  these  are  the  two  dangerous  parts. 

Each  and  every  boy  with  a  changed  voice 
should  be  told  how  low  and  how  high  to  sing 


176    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

and  be  required  to  remain  within  the  pre- 
scribed compass,  even  when  most  excited  about 
the  music.  Each  pupil  should  know  that  when 
a  tone  is  difficult,  it  should  be  skipped,  for  his 
voice  is  more  important  than  the  music.  There 
will  be  other  voices  that  can  carry  the  tones  he 
is  unable  to  give,  and  it  is  better  to  have  poor 
spots  in  the  music  for  a  little  while  than  to 
have  a  poor  spot  in  the  voice  for  life. 

WHAT  MUSIC  TO  SING 

A  great  deal  of  three-part  music  for  soprano, 
second  soprano,  and  alto  is  used  in  the  sixth 
and  seventh  grades.  The  voices  are  tested  for 
four  parts.  The  first  sopranos  will  sing  the 
soprano.  The  second  sopranos  and  first  altos 
will  sing  the  middle  part  and  the  second  altos 
will  sing  the  alto  part.  When  there  are  but 
two  parts,  the  first  sopranos  will  sing  the 
soprano  and  all  the  rest  will  sing  the  alto.  The 
second  sopranos  are  the  sopranos  whose  upper 
tones  are  not  good.  When  a  tone  is  not  good, 
do  not  use  it.  It  is  folly  for  any  voice  student 
to  practice  his  bad  tones.     They  will  never  get 


VOICE  TESTING  177 

to  be  good  that  way.  Bad  tones  mean  bad 
habits.  Do  not  practice  bad  habits;  practice 
good  ones  and  they  will  grow  and  cure  the  bad 
ones.  When  bad  tones  become  good  tones  by 
the  triumph  of  good  habits,  then  use  the  tones 
that  have  reformed,  not  before.  So  let  the  sec- 
ond soprano  sing  the  lower  part  in  two-part 
music  in  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades, 
but  do  not  let  them  sing  lower  than  C  (line 
below),  even  if  the  part  runs  lower.  Be  spar- 
ing of  unison  songs  in  these  grades,  as  they  are 
apt  to  strain  some  of  the  voices. 

In  four-part  music  in  the  eighth  grade  and 
high  school,  let  the  first  sopranos  sing  the 
soprano,  the  second  sopranos  and  first  altos 
sing  the  alto,  telling  the  second  sopranos  to 
stop  at  C  (line  below)  and  first  altos  at  B 
flat,  no  matter  where  the  part  goes.  The  sec- 
ond altos,  both  boys  and  girls,  may  sing  tenor 
with  the  tenors,  telling  them,  on  pain  of  instant 
vocal  death,  not  to  sing  below  G  ( fourth  space 
of  the  bass  staff).  First  and  second  tenors 
will  sing  tenor  as  high  as  their  voices  permit. 
The  basses  will  sing  bass  and  when  there  are 


178    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

two  parts  in  the  bass,  there  will  be  the  voices 
to  sing  them.  All  the  other  parts  can  be 
divided  when  the  music  calls  for  it. 

BALANCE    OF    PARTS 

The  parts  may  not  balance  when  the  voices 
are  tested  in  this  way,  but  it  is  the  individual 
voice  we  must  look  out  for  and  if  anything 
is  to  suffer,  it  should  be  the  music  and  not  the 
voices.  If  the  number  on  a  part  is  small,  they 
need  not  sing  louder,  as  will  be  the  temptation, 
but  the  larger  parts  should  sing  with  less  force. 
This  will  make  the  music  balance  and  teach 
the  valuable  lesson  of  singing  within  the  vocal 
limits  spoken  of  in  the  chapter  on  ear-train- 
ing. 

SEATING  PARTS 

When  singing  three-part  music,  the  pupils 
should  be  seated  in  the  order  in  which  the 
parts  come,  from  upper  to  lower.  It  makes  no 
difference  whether  the  first  sopranos  are  on  the 
left  or  on  the  right  of  the  teacher.  This 
should  be  decided  by  the  room  and  the  occa- 
sion.    There  is  no  iron  clad  rule  for  this. 


VOICE  TESTING  179 

In  four-part  work,  the  sopranos  should  come 
first,  then  on  down  to  the  bass  at  the  other  end 
of  the  chorus.  When  there  are  second  alto 
boys  singing  tenor,  it  is  well  to  put  them  behind 
the  basses  where  they  will  not  hear  the  bass 
part  so  plainly.  In  this  way  they  will  be  less 
likely  to  sing  too  low,  either  from  choice  or 
carelessness.  If  the  pupils  are  good  readers, 
this  makes  no  difference,  but  the  bass  and  tenor 
parts  are  harder  than  the  others  because  the 
pupils  singing  these  two  parts  have  changed 
staves  and  voices,  both  at  the  same  time,  and 
they  must  have  time  to  get  used  to  these  new 
things. 

In  the  high  school  chorus  and  in  all  large 
choruses,  the  room  and  its  acoustics  must  be 
studied  in  seating  the  parts.  The  logical  way 
is  to  seat  the  chorus  with  the  sopranos  on  one 
end  and  the  basses  on  the  other,  but  in  many 
rooms  and  on  many  large  stages,  this  is  not 
feasible,  as  the  pupils  must  be  able  to  hear  the 
other  parts  and  they  must  be  arranged  so  as 
to  make  this  possible.  Where  the  men  are  in 
the  minority,  they  are  seated  in  front  and  in 
the  middle,  with  a  sea  of  femininity  surround- 


180    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

ing  them.  Where  the  choruses  balance  as  they 
should  in  high  schools  (and  do  when  chorus 
singing  is  obligatory),  the  best  plan  is  to  have 
the  sopranos  and  basses  in  the  middle,  next  to 
each  other,  and  the  tenors  and  second  altos, 
both  boys  and  girls,  on  the  end  next  to  the 
basses,  the  second  sopranos  and  first  altos  on 
the  end  next  to  the  sopranos.  This  will  give 
the  two  leading  parts  the  best  positions  and  if 
those  on  the  ends  can  hear  but  three  parts,  they 
will  be  the  most  important  ones  from  the  har- 
monic standpoint.  The  basses  and  sopranos 
being  next  to  each  other  will  be  able  to  keep 
together  as  they  should. 


CHAPTER  XI 

VOICE  TRAINING 

The  voice  training  necessary  in  the  public 
schools  is  very  simple  and  easy  if  done  in  the 
right  way.  There  is  little  training  to  be  done 
except  to  see  that  each  child  sings  in  an  easy 
compass  and  does  not  strain  his  voice.  This 
will  insure  correct  vocal  growth,  and  later  on 
it  will  not  be  necessary  for  the  voice  teacher 
to  run  up  an  enormous  bill  correcting  bad 
habits. 

To  make  this  clear,  let  us  study  the  physi- 
ology of  the  vocal  machine  and  see  just  what 
we  are  concerned  with,  as  to  its  use  in  singing. 

The  vocal  machine  has  four  parts : 

The  motor  or  lungs. 

The  vibrator  or  vocal  cords. 

The  resonator,  comprising  the  cavities  of 
the  lungs,  larynx,  throat,  head,  mouth,  nose, 
etc 

!S1 


182    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

The  articulator,  comprising  the  tongue, 
teeth,  and  lips. 

MOTOR 

The  use  of  the  motor  or  lungs  in  singing 
should  be  taught  to  every  child,  as  outlined  in 
the  chapter  on  singing,  as  soon  as  he  enters 
school  or  kindergarten.  This  should  be  taught 
first,  for  the  success  of  vocal  music  in  the 
grades  and  in  the  high  school  depends  on  the 
skill  with  which  breathing  is  taught.  Breath- 
ing should  be  taught  so  well  in  the  schoolroom 
that  the  voice  teacher  has  little  or  nothing  to 
add  to  it  later.  Breathing  exercises  that  are 
not  employed  directly  in  singing  are  a  waste  of 
time.  The  very  best  breathing  exercise  pos- 
sible is  to  have  the  pupils  sing  long  phrases 
smoothly,  as  outlined  in  the  chapter  on  rote 
songs  and  also  in  the  chapter  on  singing.  If 
the  physical  culture  teacher  wishes  to  give 
breathing  exercises  for  the  development  of  the 
lungs,  there  is  no  objection,  but  they  are  seldom 
much  help  to  the  singer.  Such  exercises  tend 
to  overdevelop  the  movement  of  the  upper  part 
of  the  chest,  encourage  the  pupil  to  take  too 


VOICE  TRAINING  183 

much  breath  and  send  it  out  too  fast,  or  hold 
it  at  the  throat,  all  of  which  lead  to  the  forma- 
tion of  bad  vocal  habits.  Children  should 
learn  to  take  breath  quickly  through  the  mouth 
and  nose  at  once,  without  noise  and  without 
allowing  the  chest  to  rise  and  fall.  There  is 
little  else  to  teach  them  about  breathing.  Girls 
and  boys  should  breathe  exactly  the  same. 
The  position  that  the  children  should  habitually 
use  in  singing,  and  definite  directions  for 
breathing  are  outlined  in  the  chapter  on  sing- 
ing. 

Position  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 
success  of  the  breathing  and  consequently  with 
the  use  of  the  voice.  The  old  Italians  said 
truthfully,  "He  who  knows  how  to  breathe, 
knows  well  how  to  sing."  This  is  very  true 
and  the  pupils  should  always  stand  erect  while 
singing  or  sit  erect  with  the  back  away  from 
the  back  of  the  seat,  so  that  the  muscles  in  the 
sides  of  the  back,  under  the  shoulder  blades, 
can  work  freely.  Leaning  against  the  back 
of  the  seat  induces  chest  breathing.  When  the 
pupil  sways  forward  while  singing,  he  will 
breathe    correctly.     Placing    the    elbows    far 


184    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

apart  on  the  desk,  if  it  is  the  right  height,  and 
raising  the  chest,  will  bring  the  correct  posi- 
tion and  induce  proper  breathing.  This  is  very 
important  at  every  age,  but  especially  with  the 
younger  children.  "As  the  twig  is  bent,  the 
tree  is  inclined,"  so  if  the  child  has  held  him- 
self in  the  proper  position  while  growing  up, 
he  will  be  symmetrically  developed,  his  lungs 
will  be  strong  and  usable,  and  his  voice  will  be 
developed  naturally. 

In  classrooms  furnished  with  chairs  or  opera 
chairs  the  breathing  problem  is  harder.  To 
obviate  this  trouble,  the  pupils  may  stand  a 
part  of  the  time  and  at  other  times  may  put 
their  hands  on  the  chair  back  ahead  of  them, 
holding  the  book  in  both  hands.  With  this 
position,  the  chest  will  not  rise  and  fall  and 
the  lower  rib  muscles,  which  are  seldom  prop- 
erly developed,  will  be  left  free. 

Voice  teachers  give  breathing  exercises  of 
various  descriptions,  but  a  breathing  exercise, 
unaccompanied  by  singing,  is  not  only  unneces- 
sary but  is  frequently  injurious.  The  thing  a 
pupil  needs  to  know  is  how  to  send  the  breath 
out  slowly  enough  to  make  a  good  tone  and  not 


VOICE  TRAINING  185 

to  hold  it  at  the  throat.     Most  of  the  breath- 
ing exercises  reverse  this  process. 

VIBRATOR 

The  second  part  of  the  vocal  machine  is  the 
vibrator  or  the  vocal  cords.  They  are  located 
in  the  larynx,  which  is  the  enlargement  felt  at 
the  top  of  the  wind-pipe.  It  is  called  the 
Adam's  apple.  The  story  of  the  origin  of  this 
name  is  that  Eve  was  able  to  swallow  the 
apple  she  ate,  but  Adam  had  at  least  the  rudi- 
ments of  a  conscience  and  his  apple  stuck  in 
his  throat. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  details  concern- 
ing the  vocal  cords.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
they  are  automatic  in  their  work  and  if  the 
voice  is  always  used  easily  and  pleasantly,  the 
vocal  cords  will  grow  and  function  properly. 

REGISTERS 

There  have  been  many  disagreements  about 
the  registers  of  the  human  voice.  I  will  not 
attempt  any  argument,  except  to  say  that  there 
are  registers  in  the  human  voice  and  any  one 
with  a  fair  ear  can  hear  them.     It  is  especially 


186    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

important  that  the  grade  teacher  and  supervisor 
be  able  to  hear  them. 

A  "register,"  so  called,  is  a  series  of  tones 
made  by  using  the  vocal  cords  in  a  certain  way. 
For  instance,  in  the  woman's  voice  the  lower 
tones  up  to  D  (space  below)  are  made  in  a  cer- 
tain way.  For  an  octave  above  this  tone  the 
vocal  cords  vibrate  in  a  different  way.  At 
about  D  (fourth  line)  still  another  change 
takes  place.  These  natural  divisions  of  the 
voice  are  called  registers.  If  the  reader  is  in- 
terested in  learning  more  about  the  way  the 
vocal  cords  perform,  he  may  refer  to  any 
standard  work  on  the  voice.  Better  read  a 
number  of  them  and  then  use  your  common 
sense.     You  will  need  it  by  that  time. 

All  the  supervisor  of  music  or  grade  teacher 
needs  to  know  of  this  matter  is  how  to  tell 
one  register  from  another.  Keep  in  mind, 
when  the  upper  tones  of  any  register  are  being 
carried  too  high,  the  voice  is  louder  and  sounds 
strained.  When  the  low  tones  of  a  register  are 
carried  lower,  the  tone  will  be  softer  but  pleas- 
anter  and  the  voice  is  not  being  strained. 

It  takes   time   to   develop   the   vocal   cords 


VOICE  TRAINING  187 

properly  and  the  pupil  should  sing  softly  all 
the  time  during  school  life  so  that  the  vocal 
cords  may  grow  naturally  and  function  cor- 
rectly. When,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  the  pupil 
goes  to  the  voice  teacher,  the  long  and  difficult 
part  of  voice  training  will  have  been  done,  be- 
cause the  vocal  cords  are  healthy  and  strong 
as  a  result  of  proper  development. 

The  child  voice,  before  the  change,  is 
divided  into  two  registers — the  chest  register 
and  the  head  register.  The  difference  can  be 
detected  in  the  following  way : 

Take  a  number  of  children  about  eight  years 
old,  who  are  strong  and  healthy,  and  let  them 
sing  "America"  with  the  vigorous  tone  many 
misguided  teachers  think  a  patriotic  song  de- 
mands. Pitch  the  song  in  "D,"  so  that  the 
first  tone  is  on  the  space  below.  It  will  sound 
harsh  and  blatant.  Try  it  again  in  "E"  (first 
line)  and  it  will  be  worse.  Try  it  again  in 
"G,"  where  it  is  written,  and  if  sung  loudly  it 
will  sound  worse  than  ever.  Then  pitch  it  in 
"A"  and  let  the  children  sing  softly  and  it  will 
sound  very  sweet  and  pretty,  as  children's  sing- 
ing should  sound.     The  first  three  times  the 


188    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

singing  was  in  the  chest  register,  which  the 
children  should  never  use,  and  the  last  time  it 
was  all  in  the  head  register,  which  is  the  regis- 
ter young  children  should  always  use.  The 
ear  of  the  listener  will  detect  the  difference  at 
once.  This  is  the  essential  thing  the  teacher 
of  young  children  needs  to  know  about  regis- 
ters. It  is  often  said  that  if  the  pupil  uses  only 
the  head  register,  he  will  be  all  right,  no  mat- 
ter what  he  does,  but  that  is  not  true.  He 
must  use  even  the  head  register  properly  and 
not  yell  in  it,  for  the  head  voice,  used  improp- 
erly, will  sound  very  bad  and  the  quality  of 
the  voice  will  be  ruined. 

When,  in  the  sixth  grade  or  thereabout,  the 
voice  begins  to  fill  up  and  deepen,  the  chest 
register  may  be  used,  if  used  softly  and  easily, 
and  the  vocal  cords  will  develop  as  they  should. 

About  this  time  the  three  registers  will  ap- 
pear in  the  voices  of  the  girls.  The  "chest" 
register,  which  should  never  be  used  above  "C" 
sharp  (line  below)  ;  and  the  "middle"  register, 
which  is  safe  up  to  "D"  (fourth  line)  ;  and  the 
"head"  register,  above  that. 

If  the  pupil   sings   softly,   with  a  smooth, 


VOICE  TRAINING  189 

pleasant  tone,  the  registers  will  take  care  of 
themselves,  though  it  is  well  for  the  teacher  to 
know  what  is  going  on,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
help  the  few  who  will  not  do  it  correctly  and 
who  are  straining  their  voices  by  carrying  the 
registers  too  high. 

The  boys  will  usually  show  two  registers 
(sometimes  three)  just  before  the  change. 
After  the  change  of  voice,  the  boys  will  usu- 
ally show  two  for  a  while,  the  chest  and  the 
falsetto.  They  should  use  the  falsetto  as  low 
as  it  will  work,  since  this  will  insure  an  easy 
use  of  the  throat  and  will  be  the  foundation 
for  the  mixed  voice  that  will  later  come  to  the 
baritones  and  tenors.  It  should  come  to  basses 
also,  but  seldom  does,  because  they  are  more 
apt  to  strain  their  voices. 

NO  VOCAL  EXERCISES 

There  are  no  exercises  that  need  be  given  to 
develop  the  vocal  cords  in  the  schoolroom,  as 
the  singing  of  the  songs  in  the  regular  music 
lessons,  if  properly  done,  with  a  smooth,  soft, 
easy  tone,  will  do  all  the  needed  work.  Here 
again  is  a  wise  provision  of  nature  that  will 


190    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

save  us  much  time  if  we  have  sense  enough  to 
heed  it.  The  voice  will  grow  by  use  as  nature 
intended  it  to  do,  if  we  do  not  transgress  any 
of  her  vocal  laws.  The  music  lesson  should  be 
devoted,  not  to  vocal  exercises,  but  to  expres- 
sive singing.  But  expression  is  often  the  bit- 
terest foe  of  the  growing  voice.  The  expres- 
sion must  be  adapted  to  the  power  of  the  voice 
and  not  the  power  of  the  voice  to  the  expres- 
sion. It  is  not  expression,  but  its  misapplica- 
tion, that  so  often  spoils  young  voices. 

If  the  voice  has  been  used  properly  during 
the  growing  period,  pupils  of  the  eighth  grade 
and  high  school  ages  should  show  a  wide  range 
of  easy  tones.  But  they  should  not  use  a  very 
wide  range  of  voice  until  later,  even  if  the  tones 
are  easy.  The  louder  the  voice  is  used  during 
the  growing  period,  the  shorter  will  be  its  com- 
pass and  life,  and  the  poorer  will  be  its  quality. 
The  narrower  the  range  used  in  the  changing 
period,  the  wider  the  range  later. 

RESONATOR 

The  third  part  of  the  vocal  machine  is  the 
resonator.     This  department  of  the  voice  has 


VOICE  TRAINING  191 

no  place  in  the  schools  and  it  should  be  ignored, 
or  rather  be  left  alone  by  the  public  school 
music  teacher. 

The  resonator  is  the  series  of  cavities  in  the 
lungs,  throat,  mouth,  nose,  cheeks,  and  head  of 
the  singer.  On  their  size,  shape,  and  propor- 
tion depend  the  power  and  beauty  of  the  voice. 
Many  of  these  cavities  are  walled  by  bones  and 
cartilages,  and  are  not  changeable  in  shape  or 
size.  Many  of  them  are  surrounded  by 
muscles  and  cartilages  that  can  be  moved  at 
will.  If  the  rigid  resonance  cavities  are  ill- 
shaped  by  nature,  the  tone  will  be  poor  and 
little  can  be  done  to  make  it  better,  though  a 
surgeon  can  sometimes  remedy  such  defects. 
If  the  other  cavities  are  ill-shaped  by  bad 
usage  of  the  muscles  surrounding  them,  the 
tone  will  be  poor,  and  the  voice  teacher  must 
teach  the  pupil  how  to  use  these  muscles  prop- 
erly in  order  to  restore  the  natural  tone  quality. 
We  should  see  to  it  that  the  pupil  grows  up 
with  little  or  no  bad  usage  of  his  muscles. 

ADENOIDS  ANT)  ENLARGED  TONSILS 

The  early  removal  of  adenoids  and  enlarged 


192    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

tonsils  is  very  essential  to  the  proper  growth 
of  the  voice,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  health 
and  the  standpoint  of  the  use  of  the  resonance 
cavities.  The  voice  will  not  sound  properly  if 
these  cavities  contain  foreign  or  diseased 
growths  and  the  child  will  be  apt  to  force  his 
tone  and  thus  endanger  the  whole  vocal  ma- 
chine, unless  these  growths  are  removed. 
School    physicians    should    look    after    this. 

The  resonating  part  of  the  vocal  tract  is  the 
one  that  gives  trouble  to  the  voice  teacher,  and 
it  is  well  for  the  public  school  supervisor  to 
keep  out  of  it  altogether,  as  the  development  of 
vocal  resonance  should  be  left  until  the  age  of 
sixteen  or  later  and  then  it  should  be  carefully 
done  by  one  who  knows  how.  "One  should 
wait  until  his  voice  is  developed  before  having 
it  cultivated"  is  an  old  saying  that  has  a  grain 
of  truth  in  it,  like  all  old  sayings.  This  is  true 
in  a  way,  because,  to  many  people,  cultivation 
of  the  voice  means  cultivation  of  the  resonance 
only. 

Proper  voice  cultivation  means  the  develop- 
ment of  the  other  three  parts  of  the  vocal  ma- 
chine also — the  motor,  vibrator,  and  articula- 


VOICE  TRAINING  193 

tor.  The  development  of  these  should  come 
first  and  these  should  be  developed  in  youth, 
before  the  age  of  sixteen.  The  development 
of  these  three  parts  of  the  voice  should  com- 
mence with  earliest  infancy  and  be  continued 
right  through  the  school  life.  It  should  be  the 
care  of  the  public  school  music  supervisor  and 
of  all  teachers  that  every  child  in  the  school 
system  should  develop  these  parts  of  the  voice 
naturally  and  systematically.  When  the  pupil 
reaches  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  is  handed  over 
to  the  voice  teacher  to  be  finished  off  (or  up, 
as  the  case  often  is),  the  voice  teacher  will  find 
that  the  three  things  that  take  the  time  are  al- 
ready done.  It  takes  years  of  work  to  develop 
the  lungs,  vocal  cords,  and  articulation.  With 
this  done  and  with  all  the  muscles  involved  in 
the  production  of  the  voice  free  and  easy,  it 
is  a  simple  matter  for  the  voice  teacher  who 
knows  his  business  to  take  these  pupils  when 
they  reach  the  proper  age  and  teach  them  the 
correct  use  of  their  resonance  cavities.  In- 
deed, the  teaching  is  so  simple  that  it  is  wholly 
unnecessary  to  send  a  \  apil  trained  as  above 
to  a  voice  teacher  and  pay  the  customary  price 


194    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

for  private  lessons.  A  clever  voice  teacher, 
who  knows  his  business,  can  teach  thirty  pupils 
in  a  class,  as  other  high  school  subjects  are 
taught.  The  time  will  soon  come  when  compe- 
tent voice  teachers  will  be  among  the  teaching 
corps  of  every  high  school. 

It  might  be  said  also,  in  passing,  that  piano 
playing  and  all  other  instrumental  music  will  be 
taught  in  the  same  way  when  people  awake  to 
the  value  of  a  musical  education  and  to  the  in- 
expensiveness  and  utility  of  cooperation  in  mu- 
sic, such  as  they  now  have  in  other  branches  of 
education. 

In  leaving  the  subject  of  resonance,  let  me 
again  say,  keep  out  of  it  in  the  public  schools 
until  the  pupils  are  in  the  high  school  and  stay 
out  of  it  then,  unless  the  pupils  are  in  a  small 
class  of  thirty  or  less  under  a  competent  in- 
structor. The  voices  will  be  spoiled  for  all 
future  time  if  they  are  allowed  to  use  much 
resonance  in  the  grades  and  high  school  chorus, 
until  they  are  taught  to  use  it  properly. 

As  a  sample  of  what  loud  singing  will  do, 
put  your  finger  under  your  chin  in  the  middle, 
half-way  between  the  point  of  the  chin  and  the 


VOICE  TRAINING  195 

neck,  and  see  if  the  muscles  harden  as  you  sing. 
If  they  do,  it  is  a  sign  that  your  voice  does 
not  sound  as  well  as  it  should.  This  muscle  is 
a  swallowing  muscle  and  if  you  use  it  when  you 
sing,  you  will  swallow  your  voice.  The  hard- 
ening of  this  muscle  pulls  the  resonance  cavi- 
ties out  of  shape,  and,  consequently,  the  qual- 
ity of  the  voice  suffers. 

ARTICULATOR 

The  fourth  and  last  part  of  the  voice  is  the 
articulator  or  the  means  we  use  to  shape  the 
tone  into  intelligible  speech.  The  articulator 
is  the  tongue,  lips,  and  teeth  and,  to  a  limited 
extent,  the  roof  of  the  mouth  and  the  palate. 

In  order  to  articulate  well,  the  rest  of  the 
vocal  machine  must  be  used  easily  and  all  the 
muscles  must  be  loose  so  that  they  can  move 
easily  and  quickly. 

Many  people  articulate  too  far  back  in  the 
mouth.  This  makes  the  articulation  indistinct 
or  the  tone  suffers  in  some  way,  as  the  walls 
of  the  resonance  cavities  are  pulled  out  of 
shape  and  the  voice  sounds  bad.  The  articulat- 
ing should  be  done  as  near  the  front  of  the 


196    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

mouth  as  possible.  Quick  and  snappy  move- 
ments of  the  tongue  and  lips  will  make  the 
words  distinct. 

One  of  the  difficulties  in  teaching  singing  to 
the  members  of  the  English-speaking  race 
comes  from  the  fact  that  they  do  not  move  their 
lips  and  the  tip  of  the  tongue  enough. 

There  are  no  exercises  in  articulation  to  be 
given  in  the  singing  lesson  further  than  to  tell 
the  pupils  to  use  a  smooth,  pleasant  tone  and 
to  say  the  words  so  they  can  be  seen.  A  small 
looking-glass,  in  which  the  pupil  may  watch  his 
mouth  as  he  sings,  will  teach  him  more  about 
articulation  in  five  minutes  than  he  will  learn 
by  listening  to  himself  and  others  in  half  a 
day.  This  little  device  will  make  the  words 
plain  in  the  songs  with  a  magical  speed  and 
the  pupils  will  see  and  remedy  any  trouble  at 
once. 

Occasionally  allow  the  pupils  to  read  the 
words  of  a  song  over  two  or  three  times 
silently,  as  fast  as  the  words  can  be  pro- 
nounced, moving  the  mouth  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. This  will  make  the  articulation  very 
plain  at  the  next  singing. 


VOICE  TRAINING  197 

It  is  not  well  to  have  any  exercises  in  articu- 
lation other  than  the  ones  mentioned  above. 
They  take  time,  and  you  may  as  well  use  the 
songs  the  pupils  are  working  on  for  the  pur- 
pose as  to  invent  useless  exercises.  When  do- 
ing exercises  in  articulation,  teachers  and 
pupils  are  apt  to  think  of  nothing  but  distinct- 
ness and  the  tone  is  usually  left  to  take  care  of 
itself,  with  the  result  that  the  gain  in  distinct- 
ness is  more  than  offset  by  the  loss  in  tone. 
Both  can  be  made  to  work  well  together  if  the 
teacher  is  careful  to  do  the  work  easily  and  not 
too  loudly.  To  many  pupils  and  teachers,  dis- 
tinctness always  means  loudness.  Distinctness 
means  moving  the  tip  of  the  tongue  and  lips 
farther  and  with  a  quicker,  snappier  move- 
ment. 

All  these  things  apply  to  the  voice  at  all 
periods  of  its  development.  The  changing 
voice  presents  no  problems  to  the  teacher  who 
keeps  the  development  of  the  voice  in  mind,  as 
outlined  above. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MATERIAL 

The  material  for  use  in  teaching  school 
music  is  a  very  important  question.  How  to 
get  it  is  often  a  still  more  important  one,  as 
school  managements  vary  in  their  ideas  of  what 
is  necessary  for  music  work.  However,  I 
have  always  contended  that  it  is  the  super- 
visor's fault  if  there  is  not  enough  material, 
for  if  the  right  kind  of  results  had  been 
attained  in  the  past,  school  authorities  would 
appreciate  school  music  and  provide  ade- 
quate time  and  material  to  do  the  work 
properly. 

When  a  child  has  sung  through  a  book  once, 
its  reading  value  is  gone,  though  certain  songs 
may  be  sung  over  and  over  again  for  the  pleas- 
ure they  give.  Reading  new  music  and  singing 
old  songs  should  be  carried  on  side  by  side. 
This  has  been  done  for  years  but  the  trouble 
has  always  been  that  the  two  were  not  in  pro- 
198 


MATERIAL  199 

portion  and  the  singing  for  mere  pleasure  was 
given  the  preference.  This  is  not  so  bad  for 
younger  children  because  they  will  sing,  no 
matter  whether  they  can  read  or  not.  But 
later  in  the  school  life  the  evil  effects  of  sing- 
ing solely  for  pleasure  begin  to  appear  and  if 
the  pupils  cannot  read  music,  they  refuse  to 
sing  by  ear,  even  for  pleasure,  for  the  songs 
they  can  learn  by  ear  are  too  childish  to  suit 
them. 

The  wise  supervisor  sees  to  it  that  the  pupils 
learn  to  read  so  accurately  and  so  rapidly  thci 
they  get  the  most  pleasure,  as  well  as  profit, 
from  singing  new  music.  Being  able  to  read 
readily,  they  will  get  all,  or  nearly  all  there  is 
in  the  songs,  at  the  first  reading.  The  parallel 
is  in  the  reading  of  stories.  If  the  music  stu- 
dent has  the  same  power  in  music  that  he  has  in 
literature,  there  will  never  be  any  trouble  in 
getting  the  pupils  interested  in  their  music  in 
the  upper  grades  and  high  school. 

No  one  set,  or  even  two  sets  of  books  now 
on  the  market,  are  sufficient,  though  the 
friendly  vender  of  music  books  would  have 
you  believe  otherwise. 


200    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

KINDERGARTEN    AND    FIRST    GRADE 

There  are  many  books  on  the  market  for 
rote  work  in  these  grades,  but  none  of  them 
seems  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  singing 
voice  must  be  developed  first  before  other  work 
is  done.  This  requires  songs  that  are  slow, 
easy  and  of  limited  compass,  and  to  find  them 
one  must  look  far  and  wide.  Later,  more 
rapid  songs  may  be  used  that  will  develop  the 
pupil's  sense  of  rhythm.  A  pupil  in  the  first 
grade  or  kindergarten  should  never  be  allowed 
to  sing  below  the  first  line  "E"  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, but  this  fact  is  very  often  ignored 
by  composers  and  renders  the  transposition  of 
many  songs  necessary  before  they  are  safe  to 
use. 

SECOND  GRADE 

There  is  a  wealth  of  material  for  use  in  this 
grade,  but  much  of  the  music  on  the  market 
is  not  well  classified.  Many  of  the  books  ask 
for  two-part  singing  from  these  small  chil- 
dren. Others  ask  for  divided  beats.  Both  of 
these  things  are  impossible  if  the  children  are 


MATERIAL  201 

to  read  them.     Both  are  possible  if  the  pupils 
are  to  learn  them  by  ear. 

A  book  containing-  exercises  without  words 
should  never  be  allowed  in  any  schoolroom. 
Pupils  should  sing  songs.  Why  waste  time  on 
exercises?  The  pupil  reasons  that  it  is  all 
right  to  let  the  violin  play  songs  without  words, 
as  it  has  no  tongue,  but  why  should  he  sing 
songs  without  words,  when  he  has  a  tongue  in 
good  running  order  ?  The  pupil  must  learn  to 
read  the  words  and  the  music  at  the  same  time. 
It  is  not  real  music  reading  until  he  can  do 
this ;  it  is  only  getting  ready  to  read  music.  It 
stands  to  reason  that  children  should  have 
time,  opportunity  and  song  material  appro- 
priate and  sufficient.  Then  let  us  not  waste 
time  on  the  book  that  has  in  it  exercises  with- 
out words. 

INTERMEDIATE  GRADES 

In  the  middle  grades,  all  that  has  already 
been  said  about  material  applies  with  added 
force.  "No  exercises,  but  plenty  of  good 
songs,"  is  the  modern  slogan.  The  grading 
of  material  should  be  on  a  time  basis.     This 


202    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

means  that  the  divided  beat  should  not  be  at- 
tempted until  the  pupils  can  read  music  rap- 
idly enough  to  give  the  rapid  rhythm  demanded 
by  the  divided  beat.  It  is  not  the  rhythm  that 
bothers,  it  is  the  pupil's  inability  to  read  fast 
enough. 

Pupils  should  not  try  to  read  divided  beats 
before  the  last  half  of  the  third  year  of  school. 
The  beginning  of  the  fourth  year  would  be 
better.  The  argument  brought  against  this  is 
that  it  does  not  give  the  pupils  sufficient 
rhythmical  development.  This  is  a  very  doubt- 
ful argument,  but  its  baleful  influence,  if  there 
is  any,  can  be  nullified  by  the  use  of  the  piano 
and  rote  songs. 

When  the  divided  beat  is  introduced  ma- 
terial should  be  used  which  would  present  the 
same  problem  enough  times  for  the  pupil  to 
practice  that  particular  problem  so  that  he 
would  not  forget  it.  In  most  of  the  books 
the  problems  are  so  mixed  up  and  presented 
so  few  times  in  succession  that  the  pupil  gets 
but  a  smattering  of  knowledge  instead  of  prac- 
tice enough  to  drive  the  problem  home  to  stay. 


MATERIAL  203 

This  is  a  weakness  shared  by  nearly  all  the 
music  books  on  the  market. 

PART  SINGING 

None  of  the  present  music  books  furnish 
enough  simple,  plain  music  to  begin  part  sing- 
ing in  either  two,  three,  or  four-part  work. 
In  changing  from  unison  to  two-part  music, 
the  pupil  suddenly  finds  his  work  doubled,  for, 
if  he  is  to  read  music  in  two  parts  success- 
fully, he  must  read  and  sing  his  own  part  and 
in  addition  read  and  hear  the  other  part 
Every  time  a  new  part  is  added  a  number  of 
new  and  disquieting  things  are  introduced  into 
the  pupil's  work  and  he  must  sing  enough 
simple  material  to  allow  him  to  adjust  himself 
to  the  new  conditions.  Much  more  simple 
material  in  two,  three,  and  four  parts  should 
be  on  the  market  than  is  now  available,  so 
that  when  a  pupil  takes  up  part  work  of  any 
kind  he  will  have  enough  easy  material  that 
he  may  work  on  exclusively  until  he  masters 
part  reading  and  singing.  Then,  when  he  has 
learned  to  sing  one  part  and  listen  to  and  read 


2(H    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  others  on  easy  material,  he  will  be  able 
to  do  the  same  on  more  difficult  selections. 

STORIES 

All  children  love  stories.  They  never  get 
too  old  for  them.  There  are  many  stories  set 
to  music  in  the  form  of  cantatas  and  operas. 
Pupils  love  them,  and  there  should  be  many 
of  them  used  as  a  part  of  the  regular  cur- 
riculum. 

There  are  many  three-part  cantatas  for 
women's  voices  which,  from  their  appropriate- 
ness, seem  to  have  been  composed  expressly 
for  use  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  grades  of  the 
public  schools.  There  is  a  fascination  in  these 
cantatas  that  appeals  very  strongly  to  children. 
We  little  realize  the  effect  of  fascinating  ma- 
terial on  the  reading  ability  of  children.  If 
the  material  is  of  the  right  kind,  the  reading 
will  be  phenomenal.  It  is  the  teacher's  busi- 
ness to  get  this  material  before  the  class  in 
profusion. 

There  are  many  cantatas  for  mixed  voices 
that  are  excellent  for  use  in  the  eighth  grade, 
and  a  number  of  them  should  be  used. 


MATERIAL  205 


GRADING  MATERIAL 


In  grading  the  material  for  the  different 
grades,  it  is  not  well  to  be  too  rigid  nor  to 
insist  that  all  schools  or  districts  do  the  same 
amount  of  work.  The  supervisor  must  re- 
member that,  though  pupils  are  much  alike  the 
world  over,  teachers  vary  greatly  in  their  abil- 
ity to  handle  the  music  efficiently  and  the  speed 
with  which  they  can  get  their  pupils  through 
a  music  book.  Let  there  be  enough  material 
to  keep  the  swift  ones  busy  and  let  the  others 
do  as  much  as  they  can.  Of  all  courses  in  the 
schools  the  music  course  must  be  the  most 
flexible. 

There  should  be  much  material  for  special 
occasions.  Thanksgiving,  Christmas,  Arbor 
Day,  Washington's  and  Lincoln's  birthdays, 
and  many  other  occasions  should  be  recog- 
nized. Much  material  for  these  occasions  is 
found  in  the  regular  school  music  books. 
Then  there  is  the  material  for  the  various  and 
numerous  concerts  that  should  be  given. 

The  supervisor  should  not  fear  to  use  diffi- 
cult material  in  the  upper  grades.     Many  of 


206    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

the  high  school  music  books  are  good  for  the 
eighth  grades  where  there  are  basses. 

HOW  TO  GET  MATERIAL 

This  is  a  difficult  question  in  many  places 
and  the  only  answer  is  to  get  it  some  way. 
Where  the  free  textbook  plan  is  in  force,  it  is 
easy,  as  then  plenty  of  material  may  usually 
be  secured.  Where  the  pupils  buy  their  own 
books,  it  would  not  be  feasible  to  ask  them  to 
buy  as  many  as  needed,  and  the  School  Board 
should  provide  supplementary  material. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CONCERTS  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS 

Concerts  and  entertainments  are  a  very  im- 
portant feature  of  public  school  music  and 
they  furnish  a  splendid  motive  for  hard  work 
on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  The  money  thus 
made  can  go  to  assist  school  projects,  and  the 
pupil  will  learn  to  help  pay  for  his  raising  and 
education.  Free  education  is  apt  to  breed 
selfishness  because  the  pupils  are  seldom  called 
upon  to  contribute  anything  toward  the  up- 
building of  the  school  itself.  The  idea  is  con- 
stantly held  before  the  pupil  that  he  must  work 
in  school  for  the  good  that  it  will  do  him.  In 
music  it  can  be  brought  home  to  him  that  he 
should  work  also  for  the  common  good. 

Concerts  are  fine  for  popularizing  school 
music.  The  supervisor  may  work  for  years 
in  the  classroom,  but  unless  his  work  is  adver- 
tised his  people  will  fail  to  notice  the  results. 
207 


208    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

Some  may  see  that  Johnny  or  Jennie  can  read 
music,  but  it  takes  a  concert  or  a  musical  en- 
tertainment of  some  kind  to  bring  home  to  the 
community  the  fact  that  music  is  in  the  schools 
and  that  the  results  are  worth  the  money  spent 
upon  it.  This  is  especially  true  where  music 
is  just  being  introduced. 

Children  love  to  appear  in  public,  and  some 
adults  will  admit  that  it  was  not  wholly  the 
love  of  music  that  drove  them  to  playing  the 
piano  and  practicing  vocal  exercises,  but  the 
fact  that  they  were  going  to  be  asked  to  ap- 
pear in  public.  Since  this  desire  is  so  strong 
in  the  normal  child,  the  clever  supervisor  will 
take  advantage  of  it  and  use  it  to  further  the 
musical  education  of  the  pupil. 

As  music  in  the  schools  is  largely  chorus 
work,  the  entertainments  should  include  much 
chorus  singing.  This  will  bring  more  pupils 
into  it  and  the  more  people  interested  the  bet- 
ter, from  the  artistic,  educational,  and  box- 
office  points  of  view.  The  music  to  be  sung 
can  be  made  a  part  of  the  daily  music  lesson 
and  little  extra  time  will  be  needed  for  re- 
hearsals.    In  every  series  of  music  books  there 


CONCERTS  209 

will  be  found  an  ample  supply  of  lovely  music 
for  children's  voices,  which  will  furnish  ex- 
cellent program  numbers  for  the  chorus.  It  is 
well  to  have  all  the  pupils  in  the  classes  learn 
the  music  that  is  to  be  sung  at  the  concert. 
When  the  entertainment  is  given,  the  chorus 
should  consist  of  the  best  singers  only.  There 
will  be  some  heart  burnings,  because  some  will 
be  left  out  who  would  dearly  love  to  sing. 
This  feeling  may  be  reduced  to  the  minimum 
by  allowing  the  pupils  to  assist  in  the  selection 
of  those  who  are  to  make  up  the  picked  chorus. 
Children  are  very  honest,  and  in  selecting 
singers  they  are  often  more  particular  than  the 
teachers.  They  are  very  quick  to  see  that  some 
sing  better  than  others  and  are  satisfied  with 
the  justice  of  the  selection.  Then  the  audience 
is  to  be  considered.  They  are  paying  for  a 
good  entertainment  and  the  school  should  make 
the  entertainment  of  as  high  an  order  as  pos- 
sible, and  if  some  can  make  the  show  better 
by  staying  out  of  it,  they  will  quickly  see  the 
justice  of  it  and  will  even  suggest  it  them- 
selves. A  clever  teacher  will  not  only  be  able 
to  reduce  the  disappointment  to  a  minimum  by 


210    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

allowing  the  pupils  to  assist  in  the  selection  of 
the  chorus,  but  will  do  a  little  toward  a  far 
greater  work,  which  is  the  raising  of  a  race 
of  singers  not  afflicted  with  jealousy.  Many 
of  those  not  selected  to  sing  may  be  used  as 
ushers,  ticket-takers,  or  employed  in  many 
other  capacities. 

SELECTING    THE    CHORUS 

Beautiful  musical  effects  can  be  made  with 
choruses  selected  as  outlined  in  the  chapter 
on  individual  work,  page  93.  Three  and  four- 
part  singing  by  good  choruses  from  the  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  grades  is  one  of  the  best 
forms  of  music  and  is  one  that  appeals  to  every 
type  of  listener.  A  program  made  up  of  a 
few  selections  by  a  fine  chorus  interspersed 
with  solos  and  instrumental  numbers  is  very 
enjoyable.  A  chorus  selected  as  suggested  is 
a  very  easy  one  to  handle,  as  each  member  is 
an  independent  singer. 

Several  weeks  before  the  date  set  for  the 
concert  a  bulletin  something  like  the  follow- 
ing should  be  sent  to  the  teachers : 

"On  May  18th  a  concert  will  be  given  by 


CONCERTS  211 

the  pupils  of  the  eighth  grades.  The  follow- 
ing songs  will  be  sung  by  the  chorus.  Each 
room  may  send  as  many  quartettes  as  it  can 
muster.  Each  pupil  must  be  able  to  sing  his 
part  alone  in  a  quartette  against  the  three  other 
voices.  He  must  be  able  to  sing  with  a  smooth, 
pleasant  tone  and  come  out  on  the  key  of  the 
test  song  without  the  aid  of  an  instrument. 
Select  only  those  who  can  and  will  attend  three 
rehearsals  and  the  concert." 

Then  give  the  dates  of  the  rehearsals  and 
where  they  will  be  held;  also  the  names  of 
the  pieces  the  chorus  will  sing.  The  test  piece 
should  also  be  designated. 

Selecting  the  members  of  the  chorus  in  this 
way  furnishes  an  incentive  that  keeps  all  the 
pupils  working  at  extra  speed  for  some  time, 
as  the  final  selection  does  not  take  place  until 
the  week  of  the  first  rehearsal.  It  is  also  un- 
derstood that  if  one  member  of  a  quartette 
fails,  the  rest  of  the  quartette  must  drop  out 
if  there  is  no  one  to  take  the  place  of  the  fail- 
ing member.  This  makes  each  one  selected 
feel  his  responsibility.  Each  pupil  also  knows 
that  if  there  is  any  nonsense  at  the  general 


212    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

rehearsals  or  concert,  the  offending  party  will 
take  the  other  members  of  his  quartette  and 
start  for  home.  What  will  happen  to  him  on 
the  way  needs  no  comment,  for  each  pupil  is 
smart  enough  to  figure  this  out  in  advance. 
As  the  personal  responsibility  of  the  pupils 
and  public  opinion  are  both  active  in  the  right 
direction,  the  order  at  the  rehearsals  and  at 
the  concert  will  be  fine.  As  each  member  of 
the  chorus  is  an  independent  singer  and  knows 
his  music,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  weld  this 
body  of  singers  into  a  perfect  instrument  in 
three  rehearsals. 

Nothing  in  the  whole  realm  of  music  is  love- 
lier than  unaccompanied  part  singing  by  a 
chorus  of  young  voices,  when  it  is  well  done. 

"at  home" 

An  "At  Home"  with  the  music  lesson  as 
the  entertainment  is  a  very  sensible  program 
to  give.  The  pupils  of  a  class  invite  their 
parents  to  come  on  a  certain  day  and  hear 
them  sing  for  an  hour.  The  entertainment 
may  take  any  form,  but  the  best  and  most  in- 
teresting one  will  be  a  regular  music  lesson 


CONCERTS  213 

in  all  its  phases,  ending  with  a  number  of  well 
finished,  expressive  songs.  Very  few  parents 
and  patrons  of  the  school  have  a  clear  idea 
of  the  school  music  work  until  they  see  an 
actual  lesson.  The  parents  get  a  correct  idea 
of  the  work  and  the  pupils  will  afterwards  re- 
flect the  opinion  of  the  parents  in  their  school 
work.  When  the  parent  thinks  music  is  worth 
while,  the  pupil  will  respect  it  all  the  more. 
This  form  of  entertainment  cannot  be  recom- 
mended too  highly  and  it  can  be  given  without 
extra  time  or  expense. 

An  enlargement  of  this  plan  may  be  used 
by  several  rooms  uniting  to  give  a  program 
of  regular  lessons  to  an  audience.  The  stage 
should  be  fitted  with  desks  and  made  to  look 
like  a  schoolroom  as  much  as  possible.  Give 
a  number  of  music  lessons  illustrating  the  work 
from  the  kindergarten  to  the  high  school.  In- 
vite people  in  the  audience  to  ask  questions 
on  things  they  do  not  understand.  A  discus- 
sion will  bring  out  many  points  that  the  su- 
pervisor may  have  forgotten  and  will  prove  in- 
teresting and  helpful  to  all  concerned. 

A  room  that  sings  well  may  visit  other  rooms 


214    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

or  buildings  and  give  short  programs.  Some- 
times a  lazy  room  is  spurred  into  action  by 
hearing  another  room  of  the  same  grade  sing 
well  what  they  themselves  have  not  mastered. 
A  clever  supervisor  or  teacher  will  see  many 
possibilities  in  these  public  exhibitions. 

CONTESTS 

A  competitive  festival  is  one  of  the  best 
forms  of  entertainment  that  can  be  devised, 
but  there  are  comparatively  few  of  them  held 
in  this  country.  Choirs  may  be  selected  from 
each  building,  each  room,  or  each  grade,  and 
may  compete  with  choirs  from  other  buildings, 
rooms,  or  grades.  There  are  many  ways  of 
doing  this.  One  of  the  best  is  to  leave  each 
school  free  to  select  its  own  choir  and  music, 
though  the  kind  of  music  should  be  settled 
upon  in  advance  and  the  choir  limited  as  to 
numbers.  When  the  contest  is  held,  there  will 
be  a  good  program  of  sufficient  variety  to  be 
pleasing  to  the  audience.  The  different  choirs 
may  be  marked  by  the  judges  as  to  beauty  of 
tone,  balance  of  parts,  clearness  of  articula- 
tion, expression,  appropriateness  of  selection, 


CONCERTS  215 

and  other  points  determined  upon  in  advance. 

Some  extra  numbers  should  be  given  while 
the  judges  are  out,  and  these  may  consist  of 
solos  or  combined  choruses.  The  audience 
may  unite  with  the  children  in  singing  well- 
known  selections.  This  is  a  very  pleasing  fea- 
ture to  introduce  into  the  program  of  any  con- 
cert and  may  be  done  in  several  ways.  Where 
there  is  proper  equipment,  the  words  of  the 
song  may  be  thrown  upon  a  screen.  The 
words  may  also  be  printed  on  the  programs. 

At  some  contests  all  the  choirs  sing  the  same 
selection,  but  this  makes  it  very  monotonous 
for  the  audience. 

When  sight  reading  contests  are  arranged, 
they  would  better  be  carried  on  in  private  be- 
fore the  judges  only,  because  there  is  the  added 
nervousness  that  makes  a  fair  judgment  im- 
possible when  the  contest  is  public,  and  the 
work  is  not  usually  good  enough  to  be  inter- 
esting to  an  audience.  These  private  contests 
are  most  beneficial  and  cannot  be  commended 
too  highly,  as  they  inspire  the  pupils  to  greater 
effort.  The  teacher's  most  important  task  is 
to  teach  the  pupils  to  work  joyfully  at  any- 


216    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

thing.  Music  requires  more  work  than  any- 
thing else  in  school,  but  the  motive  is  easy  and 
pleasant  to  apply. 

PAGEANTS 

Pageantry  furnishes  a  good  motive  as  well 
as  an  outlet  for  the  activities  of  many  depart- 
ments at  the  same  time.  For  instance,  the 
pupils  of  an  eighth  grade  class  decided  in  the 
fall  that  they  would  give  a  pageant  of  United 
States  history  the  following  spring.  They 
learned  the  history  better  because  there  was 
immediate  need  of  deciding  what  to  use  and 
what  to  reject.  When  they  had  selected  the 
incidents  to  be  used,  the  English  class  wrote 
the  speeches,  the  manual  training  class  made 
the  scenery,  the  drawing  class  painted  it,  the 
sewing  class  designed  and  made  the  costumes, 
the  arithmetic  class  computed  the  cost  and  at- 
tended to  the  business  part  of  the  production, 
the  physical  training  class  staged  it.  Last,  but 
not  least,  the  music  class  found,  adapted, 
played,  and  sang  the  music  that  went  with  the 
pageant.  That  grade  had  a  living,  vital  motive 
for  their  history  and  other  lessons.     When  the 


CONCERTS  217 

pageant  was  given  there  was  a  fine  entertain- 
ment, a  goodly  sum  of  money  was  added  to 
the  school  exchequer,  and  United  States  his- 
tory lived  forever  in  the  memories  of  those 
pupils.  Of  course  there  was  work  and  plenty 
of  it,  but  that  was  the  best  and  most  interesting 
part  of  the  whole  thing. 

OUT-DOOR    CONCERTS 

In  the  spring  and  fall  outdoor  concerts  may 
be  made  one  of  the  greatest  outlets  for  school 
music.  A  plan  that  will  prove  very  attractive 
is  to  find  a  hillside  with  a  flat  at  the  bottom, 
where  the  audience  can  sit  on  the  hillside  and 
the  singers  on  the  flat.  Arranged  in  this  way, 
every  one  in  the  audience  will  be  able  to  see 
and  hear  well.  The  acoustics  depend  on  the 
steepness  of  the  hill.  If  it  is  shaped  like  an 
amphitheatre,  so  much  the  better.  The  audi- 
ence should  be  invited  to  join  in  singing  a 
number  of  familiar  songs.  This  is  called  com- 
munity singing,  and  the  school  children  should 
be  accustomed  to  leading  the  crowd  whenever 
possible.  A  band  or  orchestra  should  be  used 
if  available.     A  piaro  or  organ  will  do  if  there 


218    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

is  no  band  or  orchestra.  A  good  plan,  when 
it  is  possible,  is  to  have  the  words  of  the  songs 
thrown  upon  the  screen  and  let  the  leader  hold 
his  hand  in  the  strong  light  next  to  the  curtain 
and  beat  time.  The  people  will  follow  him 
perfectly.  Another  way  is  for  the  leader  to 
have  a  pole  with  a  ball  on  the  end  of  it  and 
point  to  the  words  in  time  as  the  people  sing. 
Community  "sings,"  under  the  management  of 
the  supervisor  of  music,  are  excellent  means 
for  popularizing  his  work. 

There  are  numbers  of  entertainments  that 
can  be  given  out  of  doors.  The  ingenuity  of 
teachers  and  pupils  will  suggest  many  more 
than  are  outlined  above. 

There  are  a  number  of  cantatas  for  women's 
voices,  like  "The  Lady  of  Shalott"  by  Ben- 
dall,  "Summer"  by  Abt,  "King  Rene's  Daugh- 
ter" by  Smart,  and  many  others  that  are  per- 
fectly suited  for  use  in  the  seventh  grades  and 
which  make  fine  numbers  for  a  part  of  a  pro- 
gram or  for  a  whole  evening.  There  are  also 
a  number  of  cantatas  written  expressly  for 
children,  such  as  "Hiawatha's  Childhood"  by 
Whiteley.     Everyone  likes  a  story,  and  these 


CONCERTS  219 

cantatas  are  wonderfully  attractive.  In  the 
eighth  grade  some  of  the  cantatas  for  mixed 
voices  can  be  used  with  good  effect. 

Then  there  is  that  most  fascinating  thing, 
the  operetta,  that  is  given  with  costume  and 
action.  There  are  many  of  these  for  children 
of  all  ages.  There  is  one  objection  to  them, 
however;  they  employ  comparatively  few 
pupils.  In  the  cantata  given  as  a  concert  num- 
ber, a  large  chorus  can  take  part.  In  the  one 
given  with  costume  and  action,  comparatively 
few  can  sing.  However,  the  latter  is  useful 
in  its  way  and  should  be  used. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CONDUCTING 

This  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  subject  of 
conducting  school  orchestras,  bands,  and 
choruses. 

Conducting  is  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
some  selection  in  public  so  that  the  leader's 
idea  of  the  music  will  be  interpreted  by  the 
players  or  singers.  This  chapter  does  not  ven- 
ture into  the  realm  of  artistry.  It  only  gives 
a  few  hints  as  to  how  the  artistry  of  the  leader 
may  be  most  easily  and  definitely  expressed 
to  the  audience  through  the  medium  of  the 
body  of  musicians  he  is  conducting. 

TWO    KINDS    OF    CONDUCTING 

We  are  often  called  upon  to  observe  two 

kinds  of  conducting.     One  is  the  spectacular, 

where  the  leader  is  the  whole  show;  and  the 

other  is  the  one  where  the  leader  uses  the 

220 


CONDUCTING  221 

baton  as  it  should  be  used,  as  the  power  to 
weld  the  whole  body  of  musicians  into  a  con- 
sistent whole.  This  quiet  style  of  leading, 
with  a  firm  hold  of  the  musicians,  was  won- 
derfully exemplified  by  the  late  Theodore 
Thomas.  His  beat  was  as  definite  as  clock- 
work and  there  was  no  mistaking  it,  even  by 
a  novice. 

The  pupils  should  know  their  music  so  well 
that  they  can  play  or  sing  it  perfectly,  without 
cues.  The  leader  shows  the  speed  and  dynam- 
ics of  the  selection,  but  the  singers  and  play- 
ers count  their  own  measures  and  know  ex- 
actly when  they  are  to  come  in.  This  kind 
of  conducting  is  the  best  to  use  with  amateur 
orchestras  and  choruses.  It  keeps  them  alive 
and  makes  them  more  self-dependent.  For 
the  leader  to  do  too  much  of  the  thinking  for 
the  musicians  is  as  bad  as  to  sing  and  play 
with  them  when  they  are  learning  new  pieces. 

In  public  performances,  of  course,  cues 
should  be  given,  but  the  players  should  be  so 
well  trained  that  the  piece  will  not  be  spoiled 
if  the  leader  slips  up  on  a  few  cues,  as  the 
average  amateur  leader  is  very  apt  to  do.     The 


222    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

fact  is,  a  good  teacher  of  orchestra  or  chorus 
work  is  seldom  a  good  leader,  while  a  fine 
leader  of  an  orchestra,  band,  or  chorus  is 
seldom  a  good  teacher.  The  two  things  are 
diametrically  opposed  to  each  other  and  it  is 
very  difficult  to  do  both.  A  teacher  must 
keep  still  and  let  his  pupils  learn  by  experi- 
ence. The  leader  does  just  the  opposite.  He 
must  keep  everything  going  and  preclude  the 
possibility  of  mistakes.  This  is  good  leading, 
but  very  poor  teaching,  as  the  player  or  singer 
should  learn  to  lead  himself  first  and  then  he 
is  ready  to  be  led.  This  is  one  of  the  diffi- 
culties for  the  average  supervisor  of  music,  for 
he  must  be  both  a  teacher  and  a  conductor.  In 
learning  new  selections,  singers  and  players 
should  keep  together  by  ear,  even  in  bodies  of 
several  hundred.  This  gives  them  a  most  val- 
uable ear  training  which  they  will  not  get  if 
the  conductor  beats  time  either  visibly  or 
audibly.  They  should  also  sing  with  their  own 
expression  first,  after  which  the  leader  should 
take  hold  and  mould  them  according  to  his 
own  ideas. 


CONDUCTING  223 

SYSTEM  OF  CONDUCTING 

It  is  well  for  the  supervisor  of  music  to  read 
many  books  on  conducting  and  use  the  good 
points  of  all,  but  he  must  adopt  some  system 
and  stick  to  it  so  that  his  pupils  may  know 
what  to  do.  In  any  event,  when  he  is  con- 
ducting, he  must  be  the  real  leader  and  insist 
that  his  musicians  follow  him  perfectly,  and 
the  more  plainly  and  simply  he  beats,  the  bet- 
ter they  will  follow. 

The  system  of  conducting  here  outlined  is 
simple  and  it  is  so  generally  used  that  no  one 
will  have  trouble  in  following  it. 

Any  set  of  signals  that  will  tell  the  players 
or  singers  how  the  leader  wants  the  piece  to 
go  will  do.  Of  course,  the  leader  has  made 
an  exhaustive  study  of  the  piece  and  if  he 
knows  it  by  heart,  all  the  better,  because  he 
will  then  have  his  eyes  free  to  see  what  his 
forces  are  doing.  As  to  the  proper  interpre- 
tation, the  leader  is  free  to  do  as  he  pleases. 
It  all  rests  with  him,  and  the  players  and 
singers  should  do  as  he  wishes. 


224    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

In  beating  time,  the  baton  should  move  as 
follows,  in  the  different  measures:  In  two- 
part  measures,  the  beat  should  be  straight 
down  for  the  first  beat  and  straight  up  for 
the  second  beat.  This  will  give  a  perfect 
representation  of  the  measure.  In  three-part, 
the  baton  should  go  straight  down,  straight  to 
the  left,  and  then  on  the  oblique  to  the  start- 
ing point.  In  four-part,  it  should  go  straight 
down,  straight  left,  straight  right,  and  then 
straight  up  to  the  starting  point.  In  six-part 
measure,  it  either  goes  down  and  up,  as  in 
two-part  measure,  three  eighth  notes  to  a  beat, 
or  it  goes  down,  left,  left,  right,  up,  up  to  the 
starting  point.  The  other  divisions  of  time 
are  usually  done  as  three  and  four-beat 
measures. 

HOLD  BATON   HIGH 

The  criticism  is  sometimes  made  that  bring- 
ing the  baton  straight  down  is  apt  to  bring 
it  too  low  to  be  seen.  The  answer  is  that  it 
should  go  straight  down  so  that  down  means 
down,  instead  of  some  vague  oblique  direc- 
tion, as  it  does  so  often.     The  leader  should 


CONDUCTING  225 

stand  high  enough  to  be  visible  to  all,  hold 
his  baton  high  and  then  move  it  but  a  short 
distance.  There  is  no  reason  for  waving  the 
stick  in  wide  sweeps,  as  the  conductor  often 
does,  unless  the  chorus  is  extremely  large. 

The  length  of  the  movement  tells  the  power 
of  the  tone  to  be  employed,  and  the  speed  of 
the  baton,  of  course,  gives  the  speed  of  the 
piece.  The  fingers  of  the  left  hand  may  be 
used  to  indicate  power  also.  One  finger  ex- 
tended may  mean  pp ;  two  p ;  three  m ;  four  f ; 
four  and  thumb  ff.  The  side  of  the  baton 
should  be  visible  to  the  singers  or  players  and 
it  should  be  of  a  very  distinct  color.  White 
is  best.  Some  contrasting  color  should  be 
used  by  lady  leaders.  A  small  electric  light 
on  the  end  of  the  baton  is  often  used  where 
the  footlights  are  bright. 

VARY  THE  BEAT 

When  conducting  rehearsals,  the  leader 
should  vary  the  time  a  great  deal  and  never 
vary  it  the  same  way.  It  is  better  to  have  the 
chorus  or  orchestra  alive  and  in  a  state  of  ex- 
pectancy than  to  have  them  know  in  advance 


226    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

how  fast  or  how  slow,  how  loud  or  how  soft 
they  are  going  to  sing  or  play.  If  they  are 
too  sure  of  what  the  leader  is  going  to  do, 
they  will  not  watch  closely.  This  will  make 
the  performance  dull  and  soggy  and  will  cause 
the  leader  to  tear  his  hair  over  the  stupidity 
of  choruses  in  general  and  this  one  in  particu- 
lar, when  it  is  his  own  fault.  If  the  conductor 
has  his  chorus  and  orchestra  well  in  hand  at 
the  rehearsal,  and  drills  them,  not  so  much 
on  the  piece  as  in  following  the  beat,  he  will 
have  the  power  to  play  upon  his  forces  at  will. 
The  leader  seldom  feels  the  same  at  concerts 
as  he  does  at  rehearsals,  and  the  feeling  he  has 
for  the  music  at  the  concert  may  be  a  far  bet- 
ter one  than  the  one  he  felt  at  the  rehearsal, 
and  the  instrument,  no  matter  whether  it  be 
chorus  or  orchestra,  should  respond  to  his 
needs.  To  be  able  to  do  this,  the  group  must 
be  drilled  beforehand,  not  on  his  moods,  but 
on  responding  to  them. 

The  left  hand  is  free  to  turn  the  music,  give 
the  cues,  and  supplement  the  work  of  the  right 
hand.     A  gesture  with  the  palm  toward  the 


CONDUCTING  227 

chorus  may  mean  softer,  if  they  have  not  fol- 
lowed the  baton  correctly  as  to  power.  A 
beckoning  with  the  left  hand  will  bring  out  a 
certain  part  louder.  On  holds  the  power  may 
be  varied  by  moving  the  two  hands  nearer  to- 
gether or  farther  apart,  for  diminishes  and 
swells. 

Successful  conducting  hinges  on  the  move- 
ments of  the  baton,  which  should  be  so  defi- 
nite that  the  dullest  musician  will  be  able  to 
see  and  follow  them.  Poor  following  on  the 
part  of  a  chorus  or  orchestra  is  always  the 
fault  of  the  leader.  Obscure  beats  or  gestures 
do  not  compel  close  attention.  It  takes  back- 
bone to  make  people  obey  and  the  leader  must 
be  firm,  unyielding,  and  definite. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  the  above  system  of 
leading  is  opposed  to  the  accepted  systems  in 
many  ways,  but  I  have  endeavored  to  put  in 
only  the  plainest  necessities,  eliminating  use- 
less pyrotechnics  that  make  the  leader  con- 
spicuous but  ineffective.  Better  look  like  a 
basswood  image  and  be  easily  followed  than 
to  be  a  picture  of  willowy  grace  and  beauty 


228    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

with  vague  meaning.  The  concert  will  sound 
better,  and  after  all,  the  concert  is  to  be  heard 
and  not  seen. 


CHAPTER  XV 

GRADE  SCHOOL  ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS 

It  is  assumed  that  all  the  pupils  in  the  grades 
learn  to  sing  and  also  to  appreciate  music  by- 
listening  to  it.  A  number  of  them  will  want 
to  go  farther  and  learn  to  play  an  instrument. 
For  this  reason,  orchestras  should  be  organ- 
ized in  every  grade  school.  Such  orchestras 
will  be  crude  from  a  musical  standpoint,  but 
pupils  who  are  going  to  be  musicians  should 
begin  early  and  the  school  orchestra  will  give 
them  a  splendid  opportunity. 

The  wholesome  effect  of  school  orchestras 
on  the  music  of  the  school  and  community 
can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  orchestra 
is  the  best  known  means  of  producing  pure 
music.  The  grades  will  train  players  for  the 
high  school  orchestra  which  will  in  turn  con- 
tribute musicians  to  the  symphony  orchestra. 
This  is  what  should  happen  and  what  is  hap- 
pening in  places  where  the  supervisor  of  music 
229 


230    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

has  been  working  at  it  for  a  long  enough  time 
in  the  right  way.  Richmond,  Indiana,  has  had 
grade  school  orchestras  for  years.  The  work 
was  pioneered  by  Mr.  Will  Earhart.  These 
orchestras  are  graded  as  to  the  ability  of  the 
players  and  when  a  player  is  able  to  get  into  a 
better  orchestra,  he  is  allowed  to  do  so.  There 
are  two  orchestras  in  the  Richmond  high 
school,  one  more  advanced  than  the  other,  and 
in  the  town  there  is  a  symphony  orchestra  that 
gives  a  number  of  concerts  yearly.  The  latter 
is  made  up  almost  entirely  of  players  trained 
in  the  school  orchestras.  This  is  a  wonderful 
record,  but  it  is  one  that  can  be  duplicated 
wherever  there  is  a  supervisor  of  music  who 
is  a  musician  and  is  also  able  to  inspire  his 
pupils  with  a  love  for  music. 

MOTIVE 

There  must  be  a  motive  back  of  everything 
that  we  do  in  this  world  and  there  must  be  a 
strong  motive  back  of  the  music  pupil  to  in- 
spire him  to  do  the  hard  work  necessary  to 
become  a  musician.  He  who  would  become  an 
expert  player  on  any  instrument  must  be  pre- 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        231 

pared  to  spend  many  hours  in  grinding  toil. 
The  best  motive  is  love  of  music,  which  every- 
one has  to  some  degree,  but  mere  yearning 
will  not  accomplish  anything.  Those  who 
play  only  the  piano  are  not  as  apt  to  practice 
as  those  who  play  in  the  orchestra.  This  is 
because  there  is  not  the  incentive  of  competing 
with  others,  and  the  joy  of  being  a  part  of  a 
great  instrument.  The  grade  school  orchestra 
furnishes  such  incentive.  The  public  perform- 
ance is  the  goal  that  will  furnish  a  motive  for 
much  hard  work.  It  is  like  the  baseball  nine. 
It  is  fun  to  play  ball,  but  it  is  inspiring  to  play 
before  people. 

It  takes  musicianship  and  leadership  of  a 
peculiar  kind  to  make  a  grade  school  orchestra 
a  success.  The  leader  must  be  an  enthusiastic 
musician  and  one  who  is  able  to  endure  dis- 
cords. He  must  be  a  good  disciplinarian,  for 
there  is  a  chance  for  a  fearful  lot  of  unneces- 
sary noise  in  an  orchestra  that  is  not  well  disci- 
plined. In  this  chapter  I  will  not  venture  into 
the  musical  part  of  orchestra  playing  nor  into 
an  exhaustive  treatise  on  conducting,  as  there 
are  already  many  books  on  the  subject.     The 


232    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

names  of  several  standard  books  will  be  found 
at  the  bottom  of  this  page.  Experience  is  the 
best  teacher,  but  the  experience  of  others 
should  not  be  overlooked. 

The  organization  of  a  grade  school  orchestra 
presents  some  difficulties.  Pupils  almost  in- 
variably choose  the  violin.  It  is  cheap  and 
easily  carried;  it  is  the  best  solo  instrument 
and — "everybody  plays  it."  The  usual  grade 
school  orchestra  consists  of  a  number  of  vio- 
lins and  a  piano.     This  should  not  be. 

It  takes  a  good  deal  of  tact  and  persuasion 
to  get  the  pupils  to  play  other  instruments. 
They  should  be  shown  other  instruments  and 
hear  them  played  by  some  accomplished  player. 
They  should  be  told  that  if  violin  players  ever 

"The  Orchestral  Instruments  and  What  They  Do." 
Daniel    Gregory   Mason.    Novello   &   Co. 

"Instrumentation."  Ebenezer  Prout.  Novello.  (Small 
edition.) 

"Instruments  of  the  Modern  Symphony  Orchestra." 
A.  E.  Johnstone.    Carl  Fischer. 

"The  Band  Teacher's  Assistant."  Arthur  Clappe. 
Fischer. 

"The  Practical  Band  Arranger."  L.  P.  Laurendeau. 
Fischer. 

"The  Amateur  Band  Guide."    Goldman.    Fischer. 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        233 

want  to  play  professionally,  they  have  great 
competition,  because  so  many  others  play  the 
instrument;  but  if  they  learn  some  other  in- 
strument, there  will  be  little  competition.  If 
the  schools  buy  the  less  popular  instruments 
and  lend  them  to  the  pupils,  a  better  balance 
can  be  maintained. 

MINNEAPOLIS    PLAN 

The  plan  used  in  Minneapolis  may  be  of  in- 
terest. We  have  had  grade  school  orchestras 
for  years,  but  they  usually  consisted  of  violins 
and  piano,  the  pupils  paying  their  instruction. 
Last  year  a  new  plan  was  tried  with  great 
success. 

The  Board  of  Education  supplied  a  pro- 
fessional leader  for  each  grade  school  orches- 
tra once  in  two  weeks  and  furnished  ten  dol- 
lars' worth  of  music  yearly  to  each  orchestra, 
under  the  following  conditions : 

There  must  be  six  or  more  different  instru- 
ments of  the  symphony  orchestra  represented, 
drums,  traps,  and  the  piano  not  counting.  Vio- 
lins restrung  as  violas  will  be  counted  at  first. 
A  beginner  on  any  instrument  may  enter  the 


234    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

orchestra,  provided  he  is  studying  the  instru- 
ment and  that  instrument  is  not  already  rep- 
resented in  the  orchestra.  This  permission  is 
only  granted  when  the  orchestra  is  being  or- 
ganized in  the  school  for  the  first  time. 

A  grade  teacher  must  take  charge  of  the 
orchestra.  She  must  be  present  while  the  pro- 
fessional leader  is  giving  the  work  and  conduct 
the  orchestra  practice  when  the  professional 
leader  is  not  there. 

The  pupils  must  play  in  public  whenever 
called  upon  by  the  leader  or  other  school  au- 
thorities. 

This  set  of  rules  resulted  in  thirty  of  the 
schools  qualifying  the  first  year.  We  have 
over  eighty  schools  and  most  of  the  others 
are  preparing  to  organize  orchestras  under 
these  rules.  Many  of  them  have  an  orchestra 
already  and  have  regular  rehearsals,  but  lack- 
ing one  or  two  instruments,  they  are  not  able 
to  qualify.  These  rules  add  a  great  deal  of 
force  to  the  plea  that  pupils  play  other  instru- 
ments than  the  violin.  It  created  great  interest 
throughout  the  city,  and  Mr.  Oberhoffer,  direc- 
tor of  the  Minneapolis  Symphony  Orchestra, 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        235 

himself  kindly  consented  to  be  advisory  head 
of  the  movement. 

This  is  having  a  beneficial  effect  on  the  com- 
munity and  is  making  orchestra  playing  popu- 
lar. Furthermore,  those  who  are  playing  in  a 
school  orchestra  are  much  interested  in  hear- 
ing the  great  orchestra  of  the  city,  and  thus 
the  musical  appreciation  of  the  whole  place 
is  being  improved. 

TWO  LEADERS 

The  plan  of  having  both  a  professional 
leader  and  a  grade  teacher  in  charge  of  a  grade 
school  orchestra  works  well  in  two  ways. 
First,  when  the  orchestra  is  needed  to  play  in 
the  school  exercises  or  for  pupils  to  march  in 
the  building  or  for  any  other  purpose,  the  grade 
teacher  is  always  on  hand  to  conduct  it.  Sec- 
ond, good  leaders  are  being  developed  among 
the  teachers.  Many  of  the  teachers  who  have 
charge  of  orchestras  are  buying  instruments 
and  learning  to  play,  taking  their  places  in  the 
orchestra  when  the  professional  leader  is  in 
charge. 

There  should  be  no  age  limit  for  entrance 


236    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

to  the  grade  school  orchestra.  Children 
should  be  encouraged  to  enter  as  young  as 
they  can.  A  child  learns  to  play  best  when 
he  is  growing  up.  A  pupil's  eligibility  to  an 
orchestra  should  be  conditioned  on  his  ability 
to  play.  In  Minneapolis  we  waived  this  point 
while  we  were  organizing  in  order  to  get 
started.  Later  we  hope  to  have  two  orchestras 
in  each  school,  one  for  beginners  and  one  for 
those  farther  advanced. 

Pupils  who  play  well  do  not  like  to  play 
with  beginners.  The  best  players  should  be 
taught  to  help  the  poorer  ones,  but  the  good 
ones  will  be  held  back  more  or  less.  A  good 
plan  is  to  divide  the  orchestra  into  two  sec- 
tions— advanced  and  less  advanced — and  let 
them  practice  together  a  part  of  the  time  and 
separately  part  of  the  time.  Then  both  classes 
of  pupils  will  be  accommodated. 

MATERIAL 

The  old  adage,  "Cut  the  garment  according 
to  the  cloth,"  is  particularly  applicable  when 
selecting  music  for  school  orchestras.  How- 
ever, get  enough  material  and  have  it  good. 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        237 

An  orchestra  player  must  be  able  to  read  music 
rapidly  and  accurately.  This  necessitates  a 
great  amount  of  material.  The  library  of 
every  orchestra  should  be  divided  into  two 
parts.  One  part  should  consist  of  a  great 
number  of  selections  that  are  to  be  played  once 
and  then  laid  aside.  This  is  to  enable  the 
players  to  learn  to  do  ensemble  sight  reading. 
The  other  part  should  consist  of  the  selections 
that  are  to  remain  in  their  permanent  reper- 
toire. These  should  be  rehearsed  often  and 
thoroughly  until  every  point  is  perfectly 
brought  out. 

We  have  solved  the  problem  very  econom- 
ically in  Minneapolis  by  keeping  the  music  for 
all  the  grade  school  orchestras  in  a  central 
library  and  buying  few  duplicates.  We  thus 
have  a  great  variety  of  material  at  the  same 
price  we  would  otherwise  have  had  to  pay  for 
a  smaller  variety.  In  a  large  city  this  plan 
works  well.  A  number  of  smaller  towns  might 
club  together  and  buy  their  music  in  common, 
with  the  same  advantage. 

When  a  new  piece  is  taken  up,  the  orchestra 
leader  often  lets  the  pupils  take  it  home  and 


238    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

learn  it  before  it  is  played  by  the  whole  or- 
chestra. This,  to  my  mind,  is  losing  the  most 
valuable  part  of  the  work.  The  better  way 
is  to  have  it  played  at  once  at  the  regular  speed 
and  let  the  players  get  as  much  out  of  it  as 
they  can  by  playing  it  over,  not  more  than  two 
or  three  times.  Orchestra  players  must  learn 
to  read  new  music  rapidly,  and  no  opportunity 
to  do  this  should  be  lost. 

The  leader  may  select  the  piece  or  pieces  to 
be  learned  perfectly  and  let  the  pupils  take 
them  home  and  learn  them  thoroughly.  At 
the  next  rehearsal  these  pieces  should  be  played 
very  carefully  as  to  intonation,  expression,  fol- 
lowing the  conductor  and  everything  that  goes 
to  make  artistic  ensemble  playing.  Only  the 
pieces  that  are  to  go  into  the  permanent  reper- 
toire should  be  finished  in  this  way.  The  play- 
ers are  trying  to  become  such  ready  readers 
that  they  can  interpret  a  piece  the  first  time 
they  look  at  it.  To  do  this  requires  much 
practice  at  rehearsals.  The  player  who  reads 
well  when  he  is  playing  alone  may  not  do  as 
well  in  ensemble  sight  reading.  Pupils  should 
play  new  music  the  first  time  through  at  the 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        239 

regular  speed  and  keep  the  time  perfectly,  no 
matter  how  many  mistakes  they  make  in  tones. 
All  that  is  said  in  the  chapter  on  vocal  music 
reading  applies  with  added  force  to  the  reading 
of  music  by  the  orchestra.  The  player  who 
does  not  think  time  before  he  does  notes  will 
never  make  an  orchestra  player.  The  leader 
must  be  very  insistent  on  this  point. 

INTONATION 

The  weakness  of  all  school  orchestra  playing 
is  lack  of  smoothness  of  tone,  which  results  in 
imperfect  intonation.  This  is  even  more  true 
of  young  orchestra  players  than  of  young 
singers.  The  players  must  be  taught  early  to 
make  tones  long  enough  and  smooth  enough 
to  be  heard  clearly.  The  development  of  his 
ear  and  reading  ability  both  depend  upon  this 
point,  which  affects  the  other  players  as  well 
as  himself.  The  proper  development  of  a 
school  orchestra  depends  largely  upon  a  rigid 
adherence  to  the  logical  sequence  of  reading 
music  which  is  "tone,  time,  notes,  expression." 

Ear-training  in  the  average  orchestra  is  a 
much  neglected  art  and  one  that  should  receive 


240    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

early  and  unremitting  attention.  The  first 
thing  a  player  should  learn  is  to  tune  his  in- 
strument. If  a  pupil  is  old  enough  to  learn 
to  play  an  instrument,  he  is  old  enough  to 
learn  to  tune  it.  If  he  has  not  ear  enough  to 
tune  it,  the  very  effort  of  trying  to  tune  it  will 
develop  his  ear.  Take  all  the  time  that  is  nec- 
essary for  this  before  beginning  to  play. 

To  many  orchestra  leaders,  the  rhythm  of 
the  piece  comes  first.  When  they  are  teaching 
young  children  to  play,  they  work  for  the 
rhythm  and  let  the  intonation  take  care  of  it- 
self. Pupils  must  learn  to  hold  the  tone  of 
their  instrument  steady  enough  and  long 
enough  to  compare  it  with  the  tones  of  the 
other  instruments,  and  they  must  also  learn  to 
hear  all  the  other  tones  that  are  sounding. 
There  must  be  much  material  of  a  slow,  smooth 
variety  with  many  places  where  the  players 
may  hold  the  chords  and  learn  to  hear  the 
harmony.  When  they  can  do  this,  they  may 
begin  to  play  selections  with  more  rapid 
rhythm. 

The  instruments  of  an  orchestra  may  be  in 
perfect  tune  when  all  the  players  sound  the 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        241 

same  tone,  but  the  music  sounds  disagreeable 
when  they  begin  to  play.  This  is  because  the 
players  are  listening  only  to  their  own  instru- 
ments and  are  not  listening  for  perfect  har- 
mony. The  leader  should  use  the  tapping  sig- 
nal, explained  in  the  chapter  on  ear-training, 
and  have  the  players  hold  the  chord  until  they 
can  hear  all  the  tones  that  make  up  the  chord. 
This  will  teach  the  pupils  to  listen  to  the  har- 
mony while  they  are  playing  with  other  in- 
struments. 

The  piano  should  not  be  used  with  the  or- 
chestra until  the  players  can  play  a  piece  per- 
fectly without  it,  because  it  covers  up  so  much 
of  the  tone  of  the  orchestra  that  the  players 
cannot  hear  the  different  instruments.  When 
the  players  know  their  pieces  well,  the  piano 
will  be  an  addition,  especially  when  there  are 
not  enough  instruments  to  balance  the  parts. 
I  realize  how  bad  the  average  orchestra  sounds 
without  the  piano,  but  it  sounds  just  as  bad 
with  it,  only  the  bad  sounds  are  covered  up. 

Another  excellent  ear-training  device  is  to 
divide  the  orchestra  into  sections  with  one  in- 
strument on  a  part,  and  let  one  section  play  a 


242    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

passage  while  the  other  players  listen  for  dis- 
cords. Then  bring  in  the  other  sections,  one 
at  a  time,  all  listening  carefully  to  the  har- 
mony. The  instruments  will  not  balance,  of 
course,  and  one  player  may  have  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  several  sections,  but  that  is  a  detail 
easily  worked  out.  A  great  deal  of  this  kind 
of  work  should  be  done. 

There  are  many  different  exercises  the  leader 
may  use  to  train  the  ears  of  the  players,  but 
the  preceding  ones  are  the  most  effective. 
They  will  give  the  pupils  the  ability  to  recog- 
nize unisons  and  chords.  All  the  playing  then 
becomes  excellent  ear-training,  as  soon  as  the 
pupils  have  acquired  the  habit  of  listening. 

Conducting  an  orchestra  is  a  simple  process. 
All  that  has  been  said  in  the  chapter  on  con- 
ducting applies  to  the  orchestra  as  well  as  to 
the  chorus.  A  great  deal  of  music,  both  new 
and  old,  should  be  played  without  a  leader, 
the  pupils  keeping  together  by  ear.  There 
should  also  be  a  great  deal  of  music  played 
with  the  leader,  and  he  should  vary  the  time 
often,  as  the  pupils  must  learn  to  read  the 
baton  as  well  as  the  music.     The  leader  should 


ORCHESTRAS  AND  BANDS        243 

give  the  cues  a  part  of  the  time  and  leave  them 
out  a  part  of  the  time,  because  the  pupils  must 
learn  to  play  both  ways. 

BANDS 

A  band  is  an  excellent  musical  organization 
for  pupils  in  the  grade  schools.  There  is  a 
fascination  about  playing  in  a  band  that  is  pro- 
nounced in  boys  of  any  age  and  especially  in 
boys  of  the  grades.  A  good  band  is  an  in- 
spiration, and  every  school  should  have  one. 
All  that  has  been  written  about  the  orchestra 
applies  to  the  band. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

INSTRUMENTAL  CLASSES 

Closely  connected  with  the  orchestras  and 
bands  in  the  grade  schools  are  the  classes  in 
instrumental  music.  Some  time  ago  a  wave 
of  interest  in  these  classes  swept  over  the  coun- 
try. Violin  classes  were  formed  at  first,  be- 
cause the  violin  was  the  cheapest  and  most 
available  instrument.  Emphasizing  the  violin 
in  this  way  makes  trouble  for  the  orchestra 
later  on,  as  already  explained. 

Teaching  violin  in  classes  has  proved  that 
it  is  a  waste  of  time  and  money  to  teach  music 
in  private  lessons,  the  same  as  it  is  a  waste 
of  time  and  money  to  have  a  private  tutor 
for  one  child.  A  child  gets  along  better  in  a 
class,  for  there  is  the  added  incentive  of  the 
other  pupils  doing  the  same  thing.  The 
rivalry  of  class  work  is  lacking  in  private  les- 
sons. The  class  sets  the  pace.  With  the  class 
plan  there  is  always  a  widespread  interest  in 
244 


INSTRUMENTAL  CLASSES        245 

instrumental  music,  and  enough  players  are 
developed  to  fill  the  orchestras.  Every  grade 
school  should  have  classes  in  instrumental 
music. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  how  this  plan 
worked  out  in  Minneapolis  after  one  year's 
trial  under  the  following  rules : 

Any  school  may  organize  classes  in  instru- 
mental music,  to  be  taught  after  school.  Sev- 
eral neighboring  schools  may  unite  if  there 
are  not  enough  pupils  to  form  a  class  in  each 
school. 

The  number  in  a  class  must  not  exceed 
twenty  and  each  pupil  must  pay  ten  cents  a 
lesson.  If  a  smaller  number  wish  to  form  a 
class,  they  may  do  so  by  paying  more  propor- 
tionally. The  teacher  will  receive  two  dollars 
per  hour  lesson.  The  money  will  be  collected 
by  the  principal  and  paid  to  the  teacher. 

Only  beginners  will  be  taken  into  any  of 
these  classes.  No  one  who  has  ever  studied 
with  a  private  teacher  will  be  received  into 
these  classes. 

This  plan  was  placed  before  the  private 
teachers  of  the  city  and  met  with  their  enthu- 


246    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

siastic  approval.  Some  of  the  best  teachers 
in  the  city  expressed  their  willingness  to  take 
some  of  these  classes  for  the  good  of  the  cause, 
even  though  the  pay  was  far  less  than  they 
received  for  private  lessons.  The  clause  that 
forbade  the  taking  of  pupils  who  had  studied 
privately  made  the  teachers  feel  that  this  was 
not  a  move  that  would  result  in  taking  their 
pupils  from  them,  but  was  rather  a  move  to 
give  them  more  pupils  later  on.  The  private 
teachers  are  much  interested  in  anything  that 
helps  the  cause  of  music  in  general. 

For  further  information  on  this  subject,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  "Gidding's  Public  School  Piano  Class 
Method,"  published  by  Oliver  Ditson  Company,  Boston. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MUSIC  APPRECIATION  IN  THE 
SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

BY  AGNES  MOORE  FRYBERGER 

There  are  two  distinct  phases  to  every  art; 
the  technical  and  the  esthetic.  Music,  as  re- 
lated to  the  school  curriculum  through  text- 
books, has  emphasized  the  former.  The  sub- 
ject has  been  considered  almost  entirely  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  performer — thus  ignor- 
ing both  composer  and  listener.  A  plan  con- 
ceived along  broader  lines  would  more  nearly 
approach  the  ideal.  It  is  therefore  with  sat- 
isfaction that  one  notes  increasing  tendencies 
to  expand  the  treatment  of  the  subject  in  the 
school  room. 

The  term  "Music  Appreciation"  means  the 
sensing  of  esthetic  values  in  the  art;  of  get- 
ting a  definite  impression  of  the  artistic  and 
beautiful.  It  is  this  phase  that  justifies  the 
claim  of  music  to  universality.  Only  a  few 
247 


248    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

members  of  society  can  compose  music;  a 
larger  number  may  perform ;  but  all  may  enjoy 
and  understand  the  appeal  of  the  emotional  art. 

In  his  thoughtful  little  monograph,  "The 
Basis  of  Practical  Teaching,"  Dr.  Bryan  says, 
"Impression  is  the  first  consideration  in  child 
development, — this  to  be  followed  by  reflec- 
tion, organization  and  finally  expression." 
Applied  to  music  one  might  say  that  this  dis- 
tinctive subject  should  impress  tre  child  so 
definitely  that  he  will  think  about  it  and  can 
tell  about  it.  Children  associate  music  with 
earliest  experiences.  Little  girls  sing  to  their 
dollies;  little  boys  march  with  toy  drum  and 
whistle ;  there  is  the  street  band  and  the  circus 
parade  with  the  steam  organ.  Music  is  a  nat- 
ural part  of  young  life.  Its  earliest  appeal  is 
to  the  emotional  nature.  Alas  that  so  many 
should  pass  through  life  without  getting  more 
than  primitive  response  from  so  enriching  an 
influence. 

In  common  school  custom,  music  may  be 
added  to  the  child's  experience  through  text- 
books, phonograph  records,  piano  pieces,  and 
perhaps  small  orchestra.     Music  appreciation 


MUSIC  APPRECIATION  249 

dependent  upon  school  text-books  is  restricted 
to  songs.  Text-book  literature  is  a  fertile 
subject  for  discussion,  but  sufficient  at  present 
is  the  admission  that  in  every  "Series"  the 
songs  might  be  classified  as  "regular,  irregu- 
lar and  defective" ;  or  "good,  bad  and  indiffer- 
ent." Compilers  of  music  books  have  found  it 
necessary,  in  the  scheme  of  teaching  essentials, 
to  include  songs  which  have  no  farther  in- 
terest than  to  illustrate  problems  of  rhythm, 
tone  and  theory.  This  is  not  a  matter  of  re- 
gret if  the  class  gets  the  purpose  of  such  songs. 
Upon  this  point  depends  the  vital  principle  of 
teaching  Music  Appreciation.  Does  a  child 
think  of  the  music  he  sings  or  hears;  if  so, 
what  does  he  think  of  it?  Pursuing  this 
thought,  a  teacher  should  require  some  sort 
of  comment  upon  every  sort  of  song  sung  in 
the  class.  This  is  merely  an  application  of 
the  idea  stated  elsewhere  in  this  chapter,  that 
a  clear  impression  must  be  gained  in  order  to 
secure  a  definite  expression.  It  is  indeed 
gratifying  to  discover  in  each  new  series  of 
text-books  a  finer  discrimination  in  the  selec- 
tion  of    song   material.     Each    book    should 


250    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

have  a  supplementary  syllabus  through  which 
the  teacher  might  wisely  direct  thought  along 
most  profitable  lines.  It  is  not  intended  to 
present  in  this  chapter  an  outline  for  such 
syllabus.  Sufficient  to  say  that  points  of  a 
good  song  as  well  as  common  errors  in  song- 
making  should  be  understood  by  the  class  to 
aid  them  in  forming  judgments  upon  songs  in 
general.  As  a  final  observation  of  every  song 
the  class  should  notice  in  the  upper  right-hand 
corner  of  the  page  the  name  of  the  composer 
or  the  source  of  the  music,  and  in  the  upper 
left-hand  corner  the  author  of  the  words.  It 
is  only  due  honor  to  have  the  class  impressed 
with  the  names  of  those  who  have  created 
music  which  endures. 

The  great  movement  to  raise  the  common 
people  to  an  understanding  of  general  esthetics 
began  in  1857,  in  Manchester,  when  John 
Ruskin  delivered  his  memorable  lecture  upon 
the  "Political  Economy  of  Art."  He  advo- 
cated the  elevation  of  public  taste  by  educating 
the  common  people  to  understand  the  principle 
of  truth  and  beauty  in  art  that  they  might  ac- 
quire a  sense  of  discrimination  and  apprecia- 


MUSIC  APPRECIATION  251 

tion.  It  is  an  old  and  familiar  story,  but  of 
abounding  interest  because  elect  and  exclusive 
members  of  society  opposed  the  idea  of  artis- 
tic things  being  for  the  laboring  classes.  They 
argued  that  the  reproduction  of  great  works 
of  art  in  cheap  media  was  sacrilege,  and  the 
application  of  artistic  design  to  cheap  wall 
paper,  carpets,  furniture,  etc.,  a  social  crime. 
The  fact  that  the  movement  grew  until  art 
was  introduced  into  the  school  curriculum 
justified  the  abuse  which  John  Ruskin  endured 
in  the  beginning.  It  is  now  possible  to  get 
a  copy  of  every  great  work  of  art  in  a  penny 
picture,  and  esthetic  designs  are  so  universally 
applied  to  common  and  useful  things  in  life 
that  one  can  scarcely  believe  that  it  was  not 
always  so. 

Closely  related  to  the  movement  of  good 
pictures  and  artistic  design  for  all  is  one  of 
the  present  day  in  behalf  of  good  music  for 
all  through  the  use  of  the  player  piano  and 
the  phonograph.  As  in  the  earlier  movement, 
so  now  there  are  a  few  objectors  who  cry 
out  against  "canned  music"  and  the  inartistic 
idea  of  grinding  out  music  from  a  machine. 


252    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

The  number  of  such,  however,  grows  steadily 
less.  The  phonograph  has  been  a  strong 
agent  in  bringing  music  closer  to  the  general 
public.  It  has  become  almost  a  necessary  part 
of  school  equipment.  That  it  is  used  so  often 
as  an  entertaining  diversion  rather  than  an 
educational  instrument  lies  in  the  fact  that 
teachers  have  not  yet  worked  out  a  definite 
and  simple  plan  of  presenting  phonograph  les- 
sons. It  is  with  much  satisfaction  that  those 
most  interested  in  this  educational  medium  note 
the  constantly  increasing  number  of  phono- 
graph records  being  made  for  school  purposes. 
Already  there  are  hundreds  of  selections  suit- 
able for  the  elementary  grades.  Furthermore, 
these  bear  such  close  relationship  to  standard 
subjects  as  to  seem  a  necessary  factor  in  teach- 
ing such  subjects.  There  are  phases  of  his- 
tory, geography,  literature  and  art  which  seem 
to  have  little  real  interest  to  children  until 
vitalized  by  suitable  music. 

The  psychology  underlying  the  presenta- 
tion of  lessons  through  phonograph  records  is 
sound  and  no  different  from  that  used  with 


MUSIC  APPRECIATION  253 

other  subjects.  It  requires  of  the  teacher, 
first,  musical  judgment  and  an  understanding 
of  child  interest;  and,  second,  old-fashioned 
common  sense  in  relating  the  music  to  the 
child — proceeding  of  course  from  the  view- 
point of  the  child.  It  may  not  be  irrelevant  to 
say  at  this  point  that  generally  speaking  there 
has  been  a  contrary  method  of  presenting  the 
subject  of  music  appreciation  whereby  proce- 
dure from  the  teacher's  viewpoint  imposed 
upon  children  a  mass  of  facts  from  musical 
history  and  biography.  This  sort  of  knowl- 
edge is  not  of  prime  interest  since  it  bears  no 
relation  to  the  child's  experience.  A  demand 
for  such  knowledge  will  follow  if  interest  in 
the  music  itself  be  first  awakened.  In  the 
words  of  Hamlet,  "The  play's  the  thing." 

In  the  desire  to  relate  the  school  room  to 
the  child's  common  experience  outside  of 
school  an  occasional  lesson  on  appreciation  may 
be  based  upon  the  musical  knowledge  of  a 
class  regardless  of  text-books.  The  follow- 
ing method  of  starting  a  lesson  has  been  found 
effective. 


254    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

Teacher:  "Name  a  piece  of  music  you 
think  is  good." 

Pupil :     "Humoresque." 

Teacher:  "Spell  it."  (The  word  is  writ- 
ten on  the  board.) 

"How  many  know  it  ?" 

"How  does  the  tune  go?"  (Someone  may 
start  it  and  the  class  follow  by  singing  with 
"la"  or  whistling.) 

"Who  wrote  it?"  (The  name  of  the  com- 
poser, Dvorak,  is  obtained  from  the  class  and 
spelled,  if  possible.) 

"Who  was  he?"  (Greatest  Bohemian 
composer.) 

"How  many  can  play  this  piece  on  the  piano 
or  violin?"  (The  teacher  may  arrange  to 
have  it  played  for  the  class.) 

Teacher :  "Name  another  composition  that 
is  old,  or  that  you  think  will  live  a  long  time." 

This  trend  may  be  continued  ad  libitum  and 
will  impress  upon  the  class  the  fact  that  music 
is  a  subject  worthy  of  thought  and  discussion. 

When  children  march  to  music  through  the 
school  halls  the  music  should  be  good.  A 
teacher  or  advanced   pupil   in   each  building 


MUSIC  APPRECIATION  255 

should  be  responsible  for  marches  and  select 
those  which  are  worth  hearing.  For  many  of 
the  children  it  is  the  most  impressive  music 
heard  in  school.  There  is  a  certain  distinc- 
tion attached  to  those  who  play  for  marching 
and  any  pupil  should  recognize  this  fact  and 
aspire  to  play  good  marches  in  the  best  pos- 
sible manner.  In  this  connection  it  is  sug- 
gested that  piano  pupils  select  several  marches 
for  study  with  their  respective  teachers.  In 
each  grade  room  above  the  third,  let  there  be 
one  pupil  responsible  for  placing  the  name  of 
the  daily  march  upon  the  board;  as,  played 
to-day,  "March  of  American  Patriotic  Airs" 
— Sousa;  or,  Triumphal  March  from  the 
grand  opera,  "Aida"  (pronounced  Ah-eed-ah). 
(If  possible,  publications  of  good  school 
marches  should  be  provided  by  the  music  de- 
partment for  each  school.) 

Finally,  teachers  should  require  comment 
upon  every  kind  of  music  which  children  hear, 
since  only  through  hearing  their  opinions  is  it 
possible  for  them  to  advance  toward  the  goal 
which  they  do  not  see.  Intelligent  comment 
upon  music  is  the  result  of  a  thoughtful  atti- 


256    GRADE  SCHOOL  MUSIC  TEACHING 

tude  toward  the  subject.  We  cannot  criticize 
that  which  we  do  not  understand — or  at  least 
we  should  not.  After  singing  or  listening  to 
a  piece,  ask  sound  and  relevant  questions  as: 
What  can  you  say  about  it?  Could  you  talk 
about  it  at  home?  Does  the  piece  make  you 
think  of  any  other?  Do  you  hear  good  music 
often?  Where?  Name  some  pieces.  What 
is  the  most  impressive  thing  in  this  piece? 
Describe  the  tune.  How  many  of  you  sing 
about  the  house?  or  whistle?  Name  a  tune 
you  sing.  Does  it  make  the  home  better? 
Did  you  ever  know  a  grouch  to  sing? 

In  developing  this  thoughtful  consideration 
for  music  it  is  well  to  begin  with  that  which 
is  familiar — as  popular  and  folk  songs,  and 
about  which  a  class  would  most  readily  talk, 
then  lead  on  to  unfamiliar  compositions.  Be- 
gin early  in  child  life.  Musical  appreciation 
can  be  most  effectively  taught  at  an  early  and 
impressionable  age.  This  seems  worthy  of 
remark  since  until  recently  the  thought  of  dis- 
cussing music  was  reserved  solely  for  high 
school  students. 

In   conclusion,    present   all    lessons    in   the 


MUSIC  APPRECIATION  257 

schoolroom  on  music  primarily  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  educator  rather  than  from 
the  musician.  The  child  is  to  be  taught  and 
not  the  subject.  He  will  wish  to  learn  the 
subject  if  the  method  of  the  teacher  be  correct. 
If  the  teacher  of  public  school  music  must 
depend  for  endorsement  upon  one  class  solely, 
let  it  be  from  educators.  Later,  if  need  be, 
let  him  strive  for  approbation  of  the  musical 
fraternity  through  his  musicianship.  In  the 
two  he  will  have  builded  upon  a  rock  that  will 
not  crumble. 


For  further  study  of  music  appreciation  the  reader 
is  referred  to  "Listening  Lessons  in  Music,"  by  Agnes 
Moore  Fryberger.     (Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.) 


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